Technology: Slate has a cool article, How To Steal Wi-Fi
And how to keep the neighbors from stealing yours. Just hope you read this before your neighbor does (did).

Every techie I know says that you shouldn't use other people's networks without permission. Every techie I know does it anyway. If you're going to steal—no, let's say borrow—your neighbor's Wi-Fi access, you might as well do it right.

It's more useful to read for actually keeping people off your network, but seeing that others are reading this might alert us to the fact that people are looking for stray signals.

The absolute coolest concept is SpeakEasy's NetShare. They encourage you to share your Wi-Fi with neighbors and you can re-sell the access and make some cash.

WiFi NetShare from Speakeasy allows you--the tech-savvy Speakeasy DSL member--to offer your neighbors broadband service via the new WiFi revolution. They get broadband service; you reduce your monthly fees.

I never really wanted to be an ISP admin, so I haven't done it, I don't want the headaches.