"inhabitants can access the omnipresent Net almost any time they want" IS THE INTERNET BACK?

[fridgeband]

Not at all.
Everyone has access to the LAN they need access to.
Normal people can access local news and entertainment feeds.
Corps add access to various amounts of their Corp LAN.
Police add access to the criminal etc. data bases.
And so on. Everyone has access to what they need to do their job, and public news and entertainment feeds.

Does everyone have access to everything?
HELL NO !

IRL do you have access to IBM or Microsofts data? The Pentagon?
It's not all that different with the exception of "international" feeds. The CP2077 version "Twitter" works just fine inside Night City, but you won't be able to see, or send, tweets to people outside the city. So the IRL current (more-or-less) international access of everyone to everything is what's missing in CP2077.

As a Hacker you not only have those accesses (but be VERY careful because using your legitimate accounts leaves a trail) but the ability (dependent on your skills and equipment) to break thru the barriers between various LANs. Yes, they're isolated from each other, UNLESS you have the proper access. Just like at IRL work you can't access HR or Accounting data just because you have access to your company website. But the path that permits such access exists.

So yes, the LANS are isolated from each other for the most part, but limited, and carefully guarded gateways between LANs exist.

The Net they're referring to is, of course, the new Net. The old Internet, a hazardous datascape after the release of several advanced programs called RABIDS upon the death of one Rache Bartmoss, is kept separate from the new Net by a ridonkulously complex super-firewall called Blackwall. Blackwall is patrolled by large numbers of Netrunners (specifically, the NetWatch orginization) to prevent anyone from bringing it down.

That is very cool, and I had assumed as much, and/or already knew about it, I'm just fascinated by what I perceive to be a change.
I remember hearing that I could only hack a server in person since these mini internet pockets were not connected with each other.
So if they are connected with each other, then technically I feel that I should be able to hack a server from across the entire city.
This doesn't mean that I can't ALSO hack it in person if I wanted to, but I feel it opens up the possibility since now all of Night City seems to be more connected than what I had originally heard a long time ago.

I mean, either things are connected and I can (with some effort) hack (since I'm not going to be playing as a normal NPC, but as hacker V in this case) things across the city, or things are not so connected, and then I can only hack things in person. (I'm not talking about hacking NPC's, just hackable terminals and servers and things like that) So that's where I'm noticing this thing where I'm assuming it has to go one way or the other, or I'm going to be left scratching my head and wondering about an explanation so I can try to make sense of it so I retain my immersion.

I feel like I've really done a good job explaining what I'm trying to say, and I really do appreciate all of everyone's replies , but I feel like nobody is actually understanding me.

Just to be sure: I said that the individuals network overlap. That DOESN'T mean they connect.

WiFi is omnipresent in our big modern-day cities. You open up your smartphone and search for networks, and you'll find them everywhere in a place like New York, Tokio or what have you. If you pass by City Hall, there's WiFi there. The range of it overlaps with that of the local supermarket, which means you can switch to that, once you're out of the range of City Hall, for continuous, unbroken access to WiFi. City Hall's WiFi isn't omnipresent across the entire city, but shared between all the different networks, the concept of WiFi itself IS omnipresent. That doesn't mean that City Hall or the local Super Market are connected. No! They're two individual networks and you'll have to switch.

If you want to be connected to the Net in Night City, going from North to South / East to West, then you can! There's individual networks EVERYWHERE, which means they're omnipresent. That doesn't mean they're connected though.

Then what is the point? And every body knows from watching hacker movies or playing hacker video games that non-connecting overlapped networks are essentially functionally connected for any hacker good enough to hack into them and essentially daisy chain their connection from one network to another until they've pretty much gained access to wherever they wanted to go, in theory anyway.

Furthermore, if there are a bunch of isolated individual wifi networks that overlap but DO NOT connect to each other................ Then where are they getting their own internet from? Where do they connect to get their data, if they do not connect to the surrounding networks? The data transfer has to come from somewhere... right...? Like I can install a wifi adapter into a potato, but connecting to it wont really have anything there since the potato isn't plugged into an internet service provider with access to the rest of the actual internet. So for example, how do the citizens of Night City connect to the stock market or their social media if there is any? If they can connect to it anywhere in Night City, then there must be one unifying overlapping sphere of influence (big antennae?) where the entirety of Night City would be engulfed by at least one public wifi network. If this is NOT the case, then all of these non-connected individual isolated networks are not actually isolated, or.... nobody gets their news anywhere....?

 

[Suhiira]

I remember hearing that I could only hack a server in person since these mini internet pockets were not connected with each other.
So if they are connected with each other, then technically I feel that I should be able to hack a server from across the entire city.
This doesn't mean that I can't ALSO hack it in person if I wanted to, but I feel it opens up the possibility since now all of Night City seems to be more connected than what I had originally heard a long time ago.

Maybe, maybe not.

Let's take Microsoft for an example.
They have a public website anyone can access.
They also have a Corp website only employees can access.
They also have totally isolated R&D sites, for example the Windows development team working on the next generation of Windows, only people physically present, and with the proper clearances have access to.

So yes, many sites can be accessed ... with the proper codes, or hacking ... from almost anywhere, some sites, the ones we'll most what access to, will be ONLY accessible from from within the building, and probably only from specific terminals.

Then what is the point? And every body knows from watching hacker movies or playing hacker video games that non-connecting overlapped networks are essentially functionally connected for any hacker good enough to hack into them and essentially daisy chain their connection from one network to another until they've pretty much gained access to wherever they wanted to go, in theory anyway.

Furthermore, if there are a bunch of isolated individual wifi networks that overlap but DO NOT connect to each other................ Then where are they getting their own internet from?

Casual users can't jump from WiFi net to WiFi net, and when a hacker enters a net where they entered from, and what they're accessing can be tracked. The more nets you have to enter the greater the chance of being detected.

Isolated networks will NOT be WiFi, they'll be hardwire ONLY (just like IRL ones) to prevent outside access, that's the whole point of isolation.

 

[fridgeband]

Maybe, maybe not.

Let's take Microsoft for an example.
They have a public website anyone can access.
They also have a Corp website only employees can access.
They also have totally isolated R&D sites, for example the Windows development team working on the next generation of Windows, only people physically present, and with the proper clearances have access to.

So yes, many sites can be accessed ... with the proper codes, or hacking ... from almost anywhere, some sites, the ones we'll most what access to, will be ONLY accessible from from within the building, and probably only from specific terminals.

So I guess this is one of the things I'm curious about, if I can actually with enough effort hack 99% of anything in the entire city from any location in the entire city without showing up in person, perhaps through the use of netrunning? Could perhaps V technically be such a super uber crazy try hard hacker that they actually manage to do the almost impossible and remote hack through a mess of wifi style networks and essentially gain root level access to the terminal or server? (which supposedly would only normally be possible by V going there and doing it directly in person?) Because if the networks are there, and the connections ARE possible....? then with enough effort it should be able to be done, otherwise I'm just honestly going to feel a little bit jaded about it lol. Not disappointed, just like "I have no idea why I can't do this?"

Casual users can't jump from WiFi net to WiFi net, and when a hacker enters a net where they entered from, and what they're accessing can be tracked. The more nets you have to enter the greater the chance of being detected.

Isolated networks will NOT be WiFi, they'll be hardwire ONLY (just like IRL ones) to prevent outside access, that's the whole point of isolation.

But V wouldn't be a casual user.
I agree with a lot of your points though about it being risky and more chance of being detected.
My question then is, if... IF.... isolated networks will not be wifi in any sense of the word and be fully 100% hardwired as you say, to prevent any outside access, then my question would be "Why would they make the network in the first place?" If every single person in lets say a gang hide out can't connect to their own network because the network has no wifi, and they all have to manually walk over to the terminal or server in order to connect to it and interact with it, and there is absolutely no signal at all, just hardwire only, then it isn't a network or server anymore, so much as it's just "a computer" at that point, which would make me kind of ask, why did they even make it?

 

[Suhiira]

So I guess this is one of the things I'm curious about, if I can actually with enough effort hack 99% of anything in the entire city from any location in the entire city without showing up in person, perhaps through the use of netrunning? Could perhaps V technically be such a super uber crazy try hard hacker that they actually manage to do the almost impossible and remote hack through a mess of wifi style networks and essentially gain root level access to the terminal or server? (which supposedly would only normally be possible by V going there and doing it directly in person?) Because if the networks are there, and the connections ARE possible....? then with enough effort it should be able to be done, otherwise I'm just honestly going to feel a little bit jaded about it lol. Not disappointed, just like "I have no idea why I can't do this?"

Sure, any net that has access, limited and controlled as it may be, will allow a sufficiently skilled, and equipped hacker to access any nets it has a connection to. But some WiFi LANS will not have access to other WiFi LANs, they'll be isolated. Some LANs will not be WiFi so you need to be physically present (or physically splice into their wiring) to access them.

While I'm most certainly not a network guru IRL I do know how they work in general terms.

 

[fridgeband]

Sure, any net that has access, limited and controlled as it may be, will allow a sufficiently skilled, and equipped hacker to access any nets it has a connection to. But some WiFi LANS will not have access to other WiFi LANs, they'll be isolated. Some LANs will not be WiFi so you need to be physically present (or physically splice into their wiring) to access them.

While I'm most certainly not a network guru IRL I do know how they work in general terms.

(I added a reply to your other post in my other post that already replied to you because you replied to me after I made the post but then you edited or added to your post so I added to mine, basically just read my last post again lol)
I understand needing to show up to a terminal or server that has absolutely no wireless connectivity in any way in order to hack it (at that point I would just call it a computer, not a network), but for every terminal or server that has some form of wireless connectivity, if that network does have overlap to another wireless network in the game (even if they're both locked and don't communicate with each other normally) As long as they're in range with each other I feel that it would make sense that I should technically be able to hack my way from one network into the other one. I mean if the wifi LAN thing has some wifi, that wireless connectivity is a huge vulnerability right? (according to hacker movies and games)

 

[Suhiira]

<clip> if that network does have overlap to another wireless network in the game (even if they're both locked and don't communicate with each other normally) As long as they're in range with each other I feel that it would make sense that I should technically be able to hack my way from one network into the other one. I mean if the wifi LAN thing has some wifi, that wireless connectivity is a huge vulnerability right? (according to hacker movies and games)

Nope.

If wireless network A uses protocol A and wireless network B uses protocol B it's impossible for them to communicate with each other. It'd be like a person that knows ONLY English trying to talk to one that knows ONLY Polish.
Additionally a network, MUST have systems and code in place to communicate with other networks if they're intended do so. No code/systems, no communications. You're in New York City, I'm in Warsaw. No phone line, radio, internet, whatever between us. How do we communicate? Yelling certainly won't work.

 

[theg4dfly]

Nope.

If wireless network A uses protocol A and wireless network B uses protocol B it's impossible for them to communicate with each other. It'd be like a person that knows ONLY English trying to talk to one that knows ONLY Polish.
Additionally a network, MUST have systems and code in place to communicate with other networks if they're intended do so. No code/systems, no communications. You're in New York City, I'm in Warsaw. No phone line, radio, internet, whatever between us. How do we communicate? Yelling certainly won't work.

Yeah it depends on if there are any clients in the area that can communicate on both networks. If you can hack into that client on network A, then you can also access network B from that same client. Networks are just communications between nodes. So if you compromise one node that overlaps both networks, then you've compromised both networks.

It's like a cellphone. If you can hack into it over cell tower connections (network A), then you can access the wifi connection (network B) if it is connected, because a cell phone has both a cell network transceiver and a wifi lan transceiver.

If all systems using different protocols are air-gapped or use different frequency bands, then yes it would be impossible to access both networks even if you hack into one of them. You would either need to physically plug into the other network, or build or find a receiver to get signals on that band.

However, if two protocols share the same frequency band, or the same cables, then it is physically possible to reverse engineer and hack those protocols through something like packet sniffing.

 

[Amethyst-056]

Nope.

If wireless network A uses protocol A and wireless network B uses protocol B it's impossible for them to communicate with each other. It'd be like a person that knows ONLY English trying to talk to one that knows ONLY Polish.

The exception here being if a hacker (access point C) knows both Polish and English, codes their tools appropriately, then hacks both networks. Of course, this being the world of Cyberpunk, such an attempt could easily require multiple yards (or more, distance depending) of networking cable if the networks are far enough apart.

 

[Cargan2016]

The internet is basically nonexistent in the game but intranets are still very much a thing. but they are only accessible from few blocks to just that particular building where the server is

 

[Restlessdingo32]

I assume the reference to "The Net" in this context is speaking in terms of Night City. That is, the city itself is somewhat interconnected.

It stands to reason if the internet became problematic, for whatever reason, and "walls" needed to go up (honestly, I find this solution to that problem unrealistic, but that is a topic in itself), over time the functionality would slowly be replaced. Likely on a smaller scale initially.

 

[Amethyst-056]

I assume the reference to "The Net" in this context is speaking in terms of Night City. That is, the city itself is somewhat interconnected.

It stands to reason if the internet became problematic, for whatever reason, and "walls" needed to go up (honestly, I find this solution to that problem unrealistic, but that is a topic in itself), over time the functionality would slowly be replaced. Likely on a smaller scale initially.

If you look up Cyberpunk lore (established in the tabletop games Cyberpunk Red and Cyberpunk 2020,) the Internet as we know was all but demolished digitally by one Rache Bartmoss when, upon his death, his life support systems ceased transmitting delay codes to a series of berserker malware daemons called RABIDS. Once unleashed, they proceeded to corrupt, encrypt or just plain delete every scrap of data on every interconnected system they could get their digital claws into.

In response to this, the early Netwatch organization attempted to fight back. When this proved too costly, they erected a digitally-immense super-firewall comprised entirely of Black ICE code that came to be called Blackwall.

With the fact the old Internet hardware includes any number of transceivers in the forms of antennae, satellites, and likely even laser links... well, it's entirely unsurprising the new Net is much-shorter-ranged and isolated into a series of data fortresses.

Personally, I would've used such a firewall as a means to secure establishment of the new Internet, then started assembling the best Netrunners to begin hunting down the RABIDS in the old internet. The only real catch beyond those being the Hound and Demon programs Bartmoss unleashed to hunt down opposing Netrunners prior to the Internet being taken over by RABIDS.

 

[Bloodartist]

There are some illogicalities with what we know of the "net". I keep wondering how can for example stock market (that we have seen in the trailers) function without wider (beyond city borders) net.

It would make more sense that there was two internets, the old(walled off) and new. Rather than things being restricted to local nets. The new internet could've been such bare-bones structure in terms of bandwidth as to not allow the virtual reality netrunning we know from before.. But information could still move between cities.

 

[Amethyst-056]

There are some illogicalities with what we know of the "net". I keep wondering how can for example stock market (that we have seen in the trailers) function without wider (beyond city borders) net.

It would make more sense that there was two internets, the old(walled off) and new. Rather than things being restricted to local nets. The new internet could've been such bare-bones structure in terms of bandwidth as to not allow the virtual reality netrunning we know from before.. But information could still move between cities.

It is possible there are inter-city connections so something like a stock market can work, but it's probably something on par with dial-up so RABIDS and Netrunners using anything above Tier 0 gear can't do anything.

(Tier 0 Netrunner gear is the kinda stuff you and I are currently using: Laptop and Desktop computers complete with mice, keyboards and monitors.)

 

[Ceceli_M]

That's all very fascinating