WiFi related question

1

Just a general question for you guys, trying to gauge how the community deals with WiFi…

  1. Do you provide WiFi at your AirBnB?
  2. Do you know how to change your AirBnB WiFi password?
  3. Whether yes or no, how would you go about doing this?

Thank you for your responses… much appreciated!

2

Welcome @markeckert … these are some probing questions for someone who registered two minutes ago. Care to give a bit of context?

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3
  1. Yes, of course.
  2. Yes, of course.
  3. If you don’t know, ask your internet provider or look at their help section. But surely you do?
4
  1. Yes
  2. Yes
  3. Why?
5

@anon67190644… we are planning an app to help airbnb people and local businesses… for the app to work for airbnb guests, the hosts would need to change their wireless details… it is essential that we know people understand how wifi works etc…

6

@jaquo Thanks… some people might not know how to go about it… that’s what we are trying to ascertain…

7

@Helsi we are trying to understand how inconvenienced you may be if you had to do this. For example, some hosts would have to travel to their AirBnB, some may need their spouse to do this as they are the ‘technical’ one… etc

8

Of course I know all of these things, but I would never buy or lease anything that required that I give it access to my network.

I also feel like you want lots of information from us, and yet, you aren’t willing to tell us about what you want to sell us. Feels a bit one-sided.

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9

Truly, I doubt it :slight_smile:

You’re kidding, right?

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10

@anon67190644 Sorry don’t mean to come across overly vague… its an app that would give guests free wifi at local businesses, where they can use your password (but other people cannot connect to your network)…

@jaquo I’m not… some people say they would get their wife or husband to do it as they installed it initially, or their kids, for example

11

What is advantage of your product vs a RADIUS server, for example? Actually, what problem do you believe you are solving?

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@anon67190644 we can’t use radius server as we would need to send out our own hardware… we are trying eliminate waste and make use of existing routers…

13

What problem are you solving? Why do you think AirBNB hosts need assistance with wifi?

14

@anon67190644 many backpackers appreciate free wifi … data is precious for people is many parts of the world. If you were to change your wifi password, we can let guests online at remote locations aside from your airbnb.

So you can advertise that you have wifi that can be used elsewhere. What if we were able to let your guests onto a wide network, like Fon?

15

Interesting concept, somewhat. Not sure how it solves an AirBNB host problem. Sounds like it solves a travelers problem by leveraging infrastructure from someone else who covers the costs. It is possible, that I have a lack of imagination here.

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@anon67190644 Yes I suppose it solves a traveller problem, but it also makes an AirBnB host more attractive as it offers something more than just inhouse wifi… they can connect elsewhere etc, without additional cost to the host.

17

Don’t you think this is a potential security loophole though? Your current guest is now on a network that you have given a password to perhaps 75 former guests… requires that all your guests know how to secure their machines. Who is responsible if guest no 4 starts to hack their way into all those other guest computers? Furthermore from a cost benefit analysis, what I am hearing is: someone stays at your home for one night, pays $35 and gets free wifi from anywhere in the world ad infinitum? I just can’t imagine what hosts will want to buy into this idea.

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18

@anon67190644 we can talk about security all day but no, there is no security loophole… people are on wifi networks anyway. You can’t just hack into peoples’ phones this is just silly media stuff. Otherwise no one would use wifi and we wouldnt have phones :slight_smile:

As far as giving wifi to guests… hosts already do it. Why would they not help guests to get free wifi elsewhere? I understand perhaps you wouldn’t, but your competitor will, and your guests will go elsewhere.

19

Then I don’t understand the configuration you are proposing. These are the issues that I manage when working with large corporations, ensuring that outside vendors, for example, can only access finite parts of the network. This is very interesting to me, so I am trying to understand why for the cost of one night of a room, I should offer someone unlimited wifi for an unlimited amount of time.

And how this connectivity doesn’t put current guests at risk.

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20

@anon67190644 guest connections to your network remain the same - so yes, what security you already provide - that is the security they will receive.

When connected outside of your property, the guests have access to the internet only, and cannot access devices on the same network (thats the configuration anyway).

Also, the network offers the wifi, outside of your property. Not yourself. You give the guests a starting point. Why would you do it? To be nice :slight_smile: … Or realistically, to get more guests; they will go where the wifi is, in many cases…

There are two ways we can build a wifi network. We can use existing infrastructure, or we can pollute with more plastic… We are trying to find a way to authenticate users on existing home networks… but thats a whole other story without radius EPA etc etc

We need to know if people know how to change their existing hardware settings to begin with. If not, there is no point in pursuing…