Connecting to someone else's wifi and keyboard backlight

[marty1990]

Hey there. So I'm currently away for the weekend staying in someone's cottage and they have Wifi. It's passworded, so secure, so am wondering how safe it is connecting my Mac to it? File safety etc.

Also, my keyboard backlight is turned off, and when I try to higher the brightness, a circle with a line through appears not letting me brighten the light. How do I fix this?

 

[miles01110]

It's as safe as any other computer connected to the internet.

 

[Medic278]

If the network is secure and you have the password then your files would be safe. Since it isn't your home network I would not recommend do anything sensitive like personal banking or entering your SSN anywhere. However for web surfing and email you will be fine. Second go to system settings and click on keyboard, at the top make sure its on keyboard then you will see a box that says illuminate in low light make sure its checked.

 

[rockyroad55]

Sometimes it won't let you brighten the backlight because the ambient light sensor suggests that the room you are in is bright enough.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Sometimes it won't let you brighten the backlight because the ambient light sensor suggests that the room you are in is bright enough.

I believe you can override this if you turn off the sensor. Under Keyboard in System Preferences, turn off the "Automatically illuminate keyboard..." option.

 

[snaky69]

Hey there. So I'm currently away for the weekend staying in someone's cottage and they have Wifi. It's passworded, so secure, so am wondering how safe it is connecting my Mac to it? File safety etc.

Also, my keyboard backlight is turned off, and when I try to higher the brightness, a circle with a line through appears not letting me brighten the light. How do I fix this?

The Wi-Fi is perfectly secure, you're in a private house and it's password protected. And if you're asking about it on a forum, you don't own files that are important enough for people to try and hack you anyway. I don't get why people are so scared of being hacked, life isn't a movie.

The room you're in is too bright, the ambient light sensor is telling your keyboard it doesn't need to be on.

 

[416049]

I believe you can override this if you turn off the sensor. Under Keyboard in System Preferences, turn off the "Automatically illuminate keyboard..." option.

yes that is correct!

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

Second go to system settings and click on keyboard, at the top make sure its on keyboard then you will see a box that says illuminate in low light make sure its checked.

I believe you can override this if you turn off the sensor. Under Keyboard in System Preferences, turn off the "Automatically illuminate keyboard..." option.

Hooray conflict! SL2008 is correct, Medic is not. If that box is checked, the Mac will only allow the backlight to come on when it thinks the room is dark enough. Personally, I just uncheck the box, turn it all the way up, and leave it on all the time. It still turns off after 30 seconds without use so it doesn't burn up the LEDs.