How to get rid of BT Openzone Virus?

Paul Barker

Paul Barker

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because I am an Orange business mobile phone user I get free Orange Broadband. So I don't wish to partake in BT Openzone's marvelous offer of broadband for £5 a month. £5 is cheap, but it more costly than FREE!

Therefore I don't want my android phone or my Ubuntu computer to be hacked at startup by BT Openzone which puts itself right at the front of the connection queue whatever it's signal is and sets itself as the home page, and convinces the phone and the computer that it is "connected" when it is not! So either device rests assured it has a connection.

I have found with the computer I have to at start up very quickly disconnect then very quickly select my orange connection from the list quickly put my password in and I am OK. But if I am not quick enough the computer is content (whatever it says about being disconnected) to be connected to BT Openzone.

Surely there is a governing body of the air waves that one can report BT Openzone to to stop it hacking devices like this.

On the android I am so sick of having to go through the menus every time, I just leave it on 3gs at home (which is a good signal so about as quick anyway).

Can't you block this connection in Android or Ubuntu? I can't see how to, and the web searches just lead to how to block it in Windows or how to actually connect to the darned thing!

anyone else got this virus?

And by the way if you change your webpage on android away from BT Openzone, imediately you come out of that screen where you have changed that setting. There it is again BT Openzone. It is acting like a virus.

i used to think Microsoft were the worst virus, but now I think it is BT.
 
I'd guess that what's happened is that BTOpenzone have one of their hotspots very close to you and it's drowning out your own wireless network. I'm not too sure what you mean by 'connecting by wifi and then using a direct connection' - can you disable the wifi and just use the direct connection immediately? Check in your list of wireless networks associated with your adapter that BT openzone isn't listed there - if it is then remove it as it may simply be at the top of your list and so is the preferred network.
 
I have managed to block it in ubuntu now, but not in android.

I consider it a virus because of it's ability to intercept a machine from it's normal wifi connection and to place itself as the home page without reference to the user. If I want a different connection I will go looking for one. I don't want one which forces itself upon me. That is viral activity and it should not be allowed.
 
Paul Barker said:
I consider it a virus because of it's ability to intercept a machine from it's normal wifi connection and to place itself as the home page without reference to the user. If I want a different connection I will go looking for one. I don't want one which forces itself upon me. That is viral activity and it should not be allowed.
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It does nothing of the sort. The machine picks it, not the other way around. If APs had the ability to directly influence client choice then any and all security would go out the window immediately.
 
It doesn't though, the OS decides the preferred network connection based on a couple of things, mostly signal strength if you haven't altered the preferred networks setting manually and the networks are all "known" and the security keys are correct.

BT Open Zone is just like any other AP (Access Point), sure if you connect to it (i.e. your OS decides to) then it can redirect your start page to that of the OpenZone homepage, but this would only be for the length of that connection, its the equivalent of a Kiosk Access Point.

If the signal strength on the OpenZone connection is superior and this is why your OS is picking that connection as the first one to try then just get the OS to "forget the network" and then move it down the preferred network order manually. You can even tell the OS to never connect.

This is the same for Windows/MacOSX/Android/iOS/Ubuntu etc.
 
With OpenZone (like other APs), if you are using it elsewhere then it remembers the network and will auto connect to your OpenZone when you get home.

Say for example you only have OpenZone and your home wifi, you might be using your home wifi and it remembers this. When you go to work you don't have anything and use OpenZone. The OS now knows of two networks as as the OpenZone authentication is the same no matter which OpenZone AP you pick up on then when you get home its down to priority and signal strength as to which one you connect to.

If you don't use OpenZone anywhere then get it to forget this network.
 
Paul Barker said:
Monkeh said:
Paul Barker said:
because of it's ability to intercept a machine from it's normal wifi connection and to place itself as the home page without reference to the user.
Click to expand...


It does nothing of the sort. .
Click to expand...
This it does do, I have not made this up. If you don't think that is viral behaviour that is your opinion. I call that behaviour viral.
Click to expand...

Have a thorough read and tell me that again: http://standards.ieee.org/about/get/802/802.11.html
 
Oh how I sympathise Paul! These other users obviously just don't understand the problem. We have had a home network for years and have at least 4 computers that use it daily as well as mobiles and ipads. One computer is forever joining Openzone, despite my having removed it from the list, clicked the never connect, checked the connect manually preference and despite removing it altogether, suppposedly. I recently bought an imac and that started to do it too but I have sorted that out satisfactorily. It's infuriating and I do understand what you mean when you liken it to a virus!

I have searched the net for an answer including the BT help page, all the suggestions are the same as have been suggested here yet none of them work. As soon as the computer is idle, it drops the home network and joins BT, of course we can't use it because we aren't subscribed.

So, if anyone thinks they know the answer, something different to what has been suggested already, please post, I am heartily sick of it.
 
Oh and just for the record, we have never used it here or anywhere else, how it suddenly started popping up is a mystery. I do believe the guy next door may have a BT homehub connection but that's the nearest I can come to a reason. Especially as we live in a village about a mile from the exchange.
 
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