I use a quarantined guest network. Not because I don’t trust my guests, but because I have no way to be sure their computers are trustworthy. There’s simply no reason for them to be on the same network as my work computer and backups.
My guest wifi password is on a note on my fridge for anyone who wants it.
Yup, if any of my visitors want wifi access they can have it, no questions asked.
I generally remember to ask in time but there have been some boring nights where my host goes to bed hours before I do and without internet access my choices become pretty limited depending on what I brought with me. “I knew I should’ve brought that book…!”
With overnight guests, of course I’m gonna let them know how to access my wifi, or just use the computer in the guest room if they didn’t bring their own laptop/tablet/smartphone. Anyone staying overnight isn’t going to be entertained by me every minute they’re there.
If someone is here for a party or a dinner get-together, I do kind of expect that the whole point of the visit is conversation. But if there’s a reason they need to access the Web, I wouldn’t hesitate to share my wifi code with them. I wouldn’t invite them back if they spent the rest of the evening surfing the Web, but I can’t imagine anyone I know doing that.
The only people who have ever asked to use my wifi were people who were staying overnight and wanted to stream movies or whatnot.
Everyone else has cell data. No one’s ever brought an iPad over.
Why do these conversations always turn into value judgments?
Anyway, anyone who comes to my house can have access to our internet.
It wasn’t intended to be a value judgment.
My tech geek friend gave me his old router when I moved in. The password is so strong, I have to keep it written down, but yes any visitor here can have my password. There is also free wifi in my apartment building which is fine for casual web surfing, but you’re not going to be streaming netflix on it.
Yes, really.
Trust isn’t the issue. Least necessary privilege is the issue.
I understand the concept, as i made quite clear. Your post suggested, however, that if there were no way to give a guest access on a separate guest connection, you wouldn’t let them on at all. That what seems unreasonable to me, and does seem to make trust at least part of the issue.
Yeah, those people sound like old fogies. But even the old fogies are personally know are down with mixing socializing with internet usage.
As long as both parties are fine with it, then I don’t see it as a problem.
For me, it depends on the visitor, and the nature of the visit.
If someone is coming over for dinner, barring some pressing need to be connected (they’re a physician on call or something), why would they ask? Kind of weird that they’d want to get online during what’s supposed to be an evening of convivial conversation with friends. I supposed I wouldn’t refuse if asked, but I’d be a bit put off. It would be like if they if they could just watch TV while we made dinner. Or read a book.
On the flip side, guests who are staying overnight, and have a device with them, are given the network name and password without even having to ask for it. Lots of people want to check email before going to bed, or even check or update Facebook pages (I don’t have a Facebook page, but I do realize that just about everyone else does).
We (wife and I) have one friend who often comes over for dinner who brings her twelve-year-old daughter with her. Sometimes the kid gets bored with the adult conversation, and so she’s got the password. So she can watch One Direction vids on Youtube or whatever she’s doing.
And our au pair has the password, naturally, because she basically lives with us.
If, during conversation, a dinner guest (or one of the hosts) just wants to check a fact or something, he or she can just walk over to the laptop that’s always turned on and sitting on the kitchen island. No need for them to get connected themselves.