To give free wifi or not to give free wifi (that is the question.)

To give free wifi or not to give free wifi (that is the question.)

Hi All...

 

Im a new host and I don't really want my guests to use my wifi. Is this problem for guests booking a place, having no wifi....there is comcast  / xfinity hot spots around my neighborhood ( i know that doesn't help international guests and you have to have a comcast account). But I'm concerned that if guests use my wifi they will download or look at sites that I definitely wouldn't want associated with my name or address.... or does any body know of temporary wifi that guests could pay for, and I could reimburse them, (only if they stay a couple of nights that is, to be cost effective) and guests have to use their details to open the account so it's not associated with me.

 

Or shall I just make it simple and don't offer wifi.

 

Thank you.....

Jon

16 Replies 16
Dimitar27
Level 10
Sofia, Bulgaria

It's a nonsense. Sorry, but... your guests pay with credit/ debit cards, most of them have smartphones, Google accounts, Facebook, Instagram etc. You let them in your property...

What is the worst case scenario? 3-4 Gb BDSM porn? Let's be serious. Websites store much more information then your IP adress.

Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Jonathan951 

If you do not provide internet access (mostly done by WiFi), then a lot of guests will not book your place. It is an essential amenity. You can put in your houserules something like this: Fair use of WiFi, no download of illegal content. Some routers can be setup for "guest access" and you can set limits to the amount of data transferred.

Best regards,

Emiel

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Jonathan951  Technology is not my strong point, but wouldn't they be 'downloading' or even just 'viewing' anything and everything on their own devices?  So, I'm not sure how it would negatively impact you, outside of the 1/1000000000 type of scenario.  I would think it would be better to have wifi and then have a super basic  TV, no smart TV or other available device that anyone could store or download anything to.

 

 

 

 

Yadira22
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Jonathan951 

hope you are well. 

Though i appreciate your concern regarding any illegal activity, WiFi nowadays is a basic amenity which many would look for- unless you are going to very specific places where a humble type of life is preferred ( I do love these too)! 

If you are concerned with the access of these sites you can speak with your provider and set up restrictions similar to how parents set up child access only. 

I think that by not putting WiFi you will potentially lose out on a lot of business. 

Ultimately what you do is up to you but for those potential guests I would also emphasis the potential to use the hotspots in your neighbourhood within your listing- this is a good selling point particularly to international guests.

good luck to you! 

Yadira 🙂

Susan151
Level 10
Somerville, MA

@Jonathan951  What they all said. There is no way I would book a place without WIFI. It is an essential part of life these days. Forget watching videos, how about checking into your flight, making a reservation for dinner, buying tickets for a tour or theatre, or simply checking the weather.

 

You can, of course, state no WiFi, but you had best reiterate this over and over and over in your listing and in the Things to Note area of the listing since people will just assume that if they have booked using the internet, that it is provided at the booked home.

Ute42
Level 10
Germany

.

@Jonathan951 

 

Nowadays guests expect wifi just as they expect electricity in an airbnb.

 

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Jonathan951 @Ute42 @Susan151 @Yadira22 @Mark116 

I have a slightly different point of view. If you have reliable home WiFi, I agree there is really no reason not to let guests use it. Set up a guest access account so they're not actually sharing a network with your own devices. However, current smartphones with unlimited data plans operating as hotspots can provide equal or superior WiFi in most locations and I think home WiFi will be quaint before too long. (International travellers will be the last to convert, of course.)

I agree with @Lisa723 .. set up a guest account with your wifi. That's what I do and it's great 🙂 

Divya20
Level 3
Gurugram, India

Well, I'd say that this is a necessity at this age. So, getting a block on the unwanted websites and stuff from the provider will keep you at bay. 

If you plan to ask them the extra charges for the usage, then Resolutions Center is the link you should go to: www.airbnb.com/resolutions Don't forget to put this info in the listing description.

Another way: Install a second wifi.

If you do not put it at all, you may not be able to achieve work listing status. 

 

@Jonathan951  In my opinion, WiFi is not optional if you're renting through Airbnb, starting with the simple reason that Airbnb itself can only be accessed via the internet. If guests have a customer service issue, need to alter their booking, update their payment method, or send you a message that can be viewed by Airbnb staff in the event of a dispute, they need to have internet access during their stay.

 

Asking guests to leave the house and find one of those crappy hotspots does not cut it. That's a guarantee of bad reviews. The Guest Account idea that others suggested is worth looking into, especially if you have an old-fashioned internet plan with data transfer limits. 

 

I don't want to make any assumptions about what content you want to prevent guests from browsing, but if it's not illegal, you might have to ask yourself if it's really any of your business...

@Anonymous @Jonathan951 

 

depending on your situation it can certainly be optional if you have adequate mobile phone coverage. WiFi at our vacation rentals is currently provided via Verizon jetpack mobile hotspots, which are indeed crappy as unlimited data plans are not available for them, so they are throttled and virtually useless most of the time. (Before this we provided internet via satellite, which was not much better and was much more expensive.) We warn guests that they should use their own mobile devices as hotspots instead if they have unlimited data-- which is exactly what we do when we stay. This setup seems to be working out fine and I am looking forward to the not-to-distant future when we can eliminate the jetpacks altogether. The situation would probably be different if we had lots of international guests, but we don't.

Dimitar27
Level 10
Sofia, Bulgaria

Once you made a reputation,  it's hard to step back. Being at the top 20 of the countries, rated by internet speed, I can't even imagine, that I can have a listing here with "no Wifi". I can't isolate people from the reality.

https://www.speedtest.net/result/8506690996

 

Marta794
Level 6
Portland, OR

Totally in agreement with providing internet access with WiFi for all the reasons already stated. Set up a guest account by logging into the admin area on your router. Once that's done you should be able to dictate restrictions and other necessary items. The login info is usually located on  the router itself. Type in the IP address in an open browser window on any computer or other device, hit Enter/Return, and then the admin privileges. 

Ian-And-Anne-Marie0
Level 10
Kendal, United Kingdom

@Jonathan951 

Where do you host? Is access really sensitive there, maybe you could find yourself in real trouble if some guest abuses your connection so I can see why you might be worried.

 

We provide wifi access on a 1GB optical connection which if I was booking and either working or on leisure in some letting then I would really appreciate it. Guests don't visit you to abuse your wifi, they visit because they either want to be there or they need to be there. Either way, providing wifi or not providing wifi will be the difference between a booking or no booking. Nobody else can tell you whether the risk is greater than the benefit to you but having a supplied wifi connection is a massive advantage.