I have internet access at my business. The other day a customer thanked me for providing WiFi. I honestly didn’t think the signal would carry as far as customer areas.
So, is there a downside to allowing the situation to continue? I’ll likely never have a customer notice my unsecured signal again. Would my ISP care?
Also, it got me thinking about a bar I frequent. It would be awesome if they had WiFi available. People already are sitting around using 3G devices; WiFi would be even better. Does internet access cost more for a business to offer? I’d like to suggest the bar offer WiFi, advertise its availability, etc but I need to know some details.
Any downside would probably depend on your ISP’s TOS. But it’s highly unlikely that the customer who thanked you is the first person to have noticed your unsecured wi-fi. If you’re concerned about your ISP caring, you should ask them.
My business is in a very rural location, and it is difficult to even get a cell signal. Also, the nature of the business does not give people much time to use devices. I will check with my provider, though.
Why are you running unsecured wifi if you intend it for employees only? I would lock that up for private use, and continue unsecured (or easily available password) for customers if you want.
I have configured public wifi at small businesses (coffee shop) with the blessing of the ISP. The business had a dedicated wifi router and DSL line for the customers, separate from the network used for the offices.
My Toyota dealer has secured WiFi, but the password’s posted in their waiting area. Must not cost too much, and it keeps the customers calmer while they wait.
Is it more expensive than if it were just a single residential user? I’m thinking of writing the bar a check for a year’s service if they do not agree up front.
I’ll second that motion to password-protect your business WIFI - and then, if you want (and your ISP allows) your customers to piggyback off of your connection, run an Ethernet cable from your current router to a second, unsecured WIFI router placed where your customers can access it. Give that unsecured router a nice, friendly SSID name that makes it obvious that it’s there for your customers to use.
That way your business has a nice secure connection and your customers have a friendly unsecured connection and a strong signal.
(I recently purchased a new Zoom model 4402 wireless router for $40 at my local computer store that would work just fine for this purpose. A 50-foot Ethernet cable would have cost me another $15, so the total cost would be around $55.)
I don’t know what the situation in the US is like in this respect, but wouldn’t offering internet access without authentication make you (1) the prima facie suspect for any criminal act perpetrated through that internet connection and (2) liable for any IP violations perpetrated through your IP address?
I suspect that is the reason why some hotels I stayed in (in Germany and France) offered their free WLAN access not via an open connection but via a captive portal where I had to authenticate myself with my e-mail-address.
That depends on the quality you want. A lot of businesses with “free WiFi!” just plunk down a $40 router intended for home use, which ends up being practically unusable for covering a larger area with more people connecting to it. To get decent service, you’re likely to need more or more powerful base stations, which will of course cost more.
There is no crime of offering free wifi. There is no automatic guilt associated with having an ISP connection. In fact, unsecured wifi is probably a defence - “It could have been anyone who traded those porn pics, they just have to park behind the building and fire up their laptop”. Of course, you may find yourself spending a lot on a lawyer to prove you may be innocent. OTOH, in a business with a dozen-plus users, who’s the guilty party? Whether you are negligent for providing access - a lawsuit, not a crime - maybe depends on how open and how reasonable your access is.
The danger of open Wifi is the ability of anyone to join your network and try to use it, or pry the secrets out of your computers. Quite a few infected computers have been used for various purposes without the knowledge of their owners. You might find your business has become the biggest free porn server site in the neighbourhood… Or the source of all those thereatening emails relayed to whitehouse.gov… Or they install keyloggers on your PC and now know how to get to onto your bank account. Normally a firewall blocks a lot of these attacks, but an open wifi is a nice back door.
At the very least, have a separate network for the public to use, and then they only hack each other, not you.
Whether the ISP will allow it - it depends. Most ISPs forbid “reselling” or “redistributing”, but free access for people who happen to be inside your building doing other business with you is usually aprt of your business (nowadays). If you are going all Ramada on your customers and charging for access, The ISP may demand a piece of the action.
This is really going to vary by ISP, but also in the equation is how the bar looks at seat turnover–if they care about it at all, they may not want WiFi, as it tends to result in customers lingering. On the other hand, if their business model is helped by people sitting there for longer, hopefully ordering more stuff the longer they stay, that might be a good reason to put it in.
Thanks for all the input! The customer able to use my WiFi was an aberration. I walked around my business with my phone, turning WiFi off and on and could not get a signal in any customer areas including outside (metal building that also makes it impossible to get a phone signal without stepping outside).
I’m going to talk with the owner of the bar (a fantastic beer place with 40 taps) and offer to pay for the hardware.
Since the GQ part of the question seems to be answered, slight hijack.
Why would any bar not want people to stay unless it is closing time? Unlike a restaurant where people are only going to order one meal, bar patrons are likely to order more than one drink.
Having wifi access at a bar is a good practice, I think. My iPhone runs faster on wifi and the bar can host fantasy drafts where people can bring a laptop and draft with their league members in person.
I’m going to guess that for a bar the most important factor is total drinks sold per hour. If their chairs/tables are typically full, that’s going to translate to maximizing the number of drinks per chair/table per hour and anyone who is busy on their phones/tablets/PCs isn’t necessarily someone who is busy drinking.
On the other hand, if the bar has empty tables then I’d assume they’d welcome extra customers sitting down, using their free WIFI and ordering an occasional drink.
I installed wifi in the sports bar I occasionally work for years ago. It became the default location for a large number of fantasy sports teams to hold their drafts. Also, there are several functioning alcoholics who seemingly do all their work sitting at the bar with a laptop.
So, I approached the owner and mentioned WiFi. I was about to say that I’d go out and buy the necessary hardware, but he asked the 12 people at the bar what they all thought. Nine people said hellya. The other three didn’t understand the question.
So, he is going to go ahead with my idea and it will cost me nothing.
My ISP has no problem with me allowing customers access to wifi, as I already have a “business plan”. A friend came and set things up. A sign now mentions, “Free WiFi available, ask receptionist for information”. Cool sign, I will likely have one or two customers each year requesting a password.
At my favorite bar, the owner asked if I’d help him set his WiFi up. So we hung out one afternoon, went shopping for what we needed, and were up and running just a few hours later. We sat around and had a few beers, and he picked up the tab.
Next time I stopped, I was running a tab. When I left, the bartender told me the owner had credited me for $75, so I owed nothing. I told her that was ridiculous and demanded to pay and did. All is well.
Some jackasses find no greater joy in life than trying to hack into wireless routers for sport. Make sure you have your routers wireless security protocols in place.
