Offer Free WiFi To Customers

greyteam1959

I have BT Broadband & a wireless router in my business premises.
I want to offer my customers free wifi access.
How do I set it up ??
Just give them the router password ??
Sorry if its a bit of a dumb question !!!

John_Gray

The (fairly insurmountable) problem is that you have no control over what your customers might be doing, once you have given them the password to access wireless. You probably don't have a problem with them downloading vast quantities of data (if you have an 'unlimited' plan), but what happens if they are naughty persons?

victor2

You either enable the wireless with no security, so that anyone can use it at any time with any wireless enabled device, or you enable security with a password and give that to customers who want access. Either way, lots of people end up being able to access the internet through your broadband and you should heed the comments above.
You are not giving them your "router password", which allows you to configure your router. The wireless password is completely separate. Many routers allow you to disable administrative access by a wireless connection, so it might be wise to set that if you have the option.

greyteam1959

So how do the likes of Starbucks etc offer free wifi ????

victor2

mervyn11 wrote: »

So how do the likes of Starbucks etc offer free wifi ????

They switch on wireless access with no security and turn a blind eye to any "undesirable" internet access through it. Their own systems probably sit well away from the connection they offer to customers.

paddyrg

Have a look at FON - it offers a locked down AP separate from your own network traffic, easy solution

greyteam1959

Cheers guys...........
You can get the answers on here faster than from BT !!!
:T:T

googler

If you want to allow access to only current customers, change password each day and only issue password to customers that day.

Prevents customers from previous visits coming back and piggybacking outside your premises without buying anything.

googler

paddyrg wrote: »

Have a look at FON - it offers a locked down AP separate from your own network traffic, easy solution

... But only BT FON users will be able to use it.

greyteam1959

Trying to set this wifi access up but when somebody attempts to connect to it instead of just asking for a password it asks for a username AND a password.
What am I doing wrong ????

onzey

I remember a while back asking about wifi in a Costas and I believe the guy said they change the password every hour, presumably for reasons googler mentioned.