When wireless networking first kicked off in the corporate world a couple of years ago, I honestly thought the concept of loitering outside with a Wi-Fi portable scrumping for free access would be incredibly short-lived.

While the idea of using Pringles tins for accurate targeting or war-chalking regions of free access was undeniably exciting, the sad fact was that the number of open corporate networks I'd found could be counted on one hand. This was in central London and believe me, not for the lack of trying.

You can spot the wireless junkie a mile off, eagerly watching their portable's screen as it searches for anything useful within range, their look of hope slowly turning to resignation as they once again draw a blank.

"Just where are all these open networks?" they grumble, cursing every article and news story suggesting that the streets were paved with free access.

Perhaps these disgruntled wireless owners are also venting their frustration on commercial hotspots, refusing to pay for access until they at least blag some for free to balance it out.

Certainly the times I've fired up a Wi-Fi portable at an airport terminal, hotel lobby, train station or coffee shop, a quick glance around reveals I'm normally the only punter who appears to be using the services.

Yep, the outlook was bleak for early-adopting Wi-Fi opportunists, many of whose initial enthusiasm has long been beaten out.

But if you're someone who swore never again to face the embarrassment of failing to stumble across free access while out and about, I urge you to swallow your pride and try again. The tide has changed and I assure you that the current breed of wireless owners won't let you down.

Wireless networking is without a doubt the 'big thing' in the homes of technology lovers countrywide. Maybe I'm the victim of a cunning marketing exercise, but it seems that everyone's talking about it.

My ears always prick up when I overhear people discussing technology, but recently it's not been about mobile phones or digital cameras. Wireless networking is king. If you don't have it at home, you're so last year.

I think it's wonderful when specialist technology crosses into the mainstream and people start enthusing about it. The trouble is, many new wireless owners are the same people who left their VCR clocks flashing at 00:00.

Through complications or plain laziness, they just plug in their new boxes and leave them at their default settings. After all, they seem to work fine, so why change anything?

But the default settings for most wireless routers and access points also leaves them wide open to anyone who wants to connect. I know because, as a born-again Wi-Fi opportunist I can't believe how much the situation's changed since a couple of years ago.

Now when waiting for mates outside a pub in the West End, I fire up my Wi-Fi PDA and am flooded for choice. It's not unusual to have four or five networks within range.

Of course some are securely locked down, but these days there'll be at least one wide open. The most likely candidates for free access are those revealingly using the manufacturer's name as the service set identifier.

As the easiest thing to change when configuring a wireless router or access point, any network which still broadcasts such an ID will almost certainly not have any security activated.

Its proud owner has plugged it in and, after seeing it working straight away, has not bothered to change a thing.

Ironically, by making them so easy to set up the wireless manufacturers have inadvertently compromised their security. They could argue that house builders can supply countless locks and keys, but they're useless if the entrance is propped wide open.

The difference, though, is that most buildings have their doors closed and locked by default, so it's up to a careless owner to leave them open.

This situation has resulted in a bit of a dilemma. While it's good to check my emails and browse for free using an unsuspecting individual's network, it just doesn't feel right compared to exploiting a faceless corporation.

While I'd like to think that some individuals are not unsuspecting at all, and have deliberately left their networks open, deep down I know most just didn't know how to activate security or were unaware of what was happening.

As an increasing number of broadband subscriptions become metered or capped, giving away access to all and sundry will undoubtedly become a serious issue.

If you only have a limited number of gigabytes per month you don't want to squander it. Yet many of the same people who've signed up for cheap capped broadband accounts are the same ones who leave their networks open to all.

So the moral of the story is this: if you have a wireless network at home and don't want to give away access for free, then activate Wep security or set it up to exclude all devices other than your own. This is easily done and won't take long.

If wireless owners start closing their networks, I'll be the first to miss the free casual access. But in an age of increasingly capped subscriptions it is the sensible way forward. I suspect that the second era of wireless opportunism could be nearing its end.