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In theory, I don't have a problem with a retailer offering free WiFi but limiting it either for QoS or to block certain sites or protocols. It's their bandwidth

In theory, I don't have a problem with a retailer offering free WiFi but limiting it either for QoS or to block certain sites or protocols. It's their bandwidth and they should be able to offer it to the public on whatever terms they want. As with anything, if you aren't paying for it then you are not the customer. Now, if they somehow convinced Verizon or ATT to interfere with the network access that I am paying for, that would be a problem and I'd stop doing business with both the carrier and the retailer.

super-fake 9y ago
That would show them!
shadow_banned 9y ago
That would show em!
- paki123 9y ago
  If a lot of people did it, wouldn't it show em?
devoply 9y ago
> Now, if they somehow convinced Verizon or ATT to interfere with the network access that I am paying for, that would be a problem and I'd stop doing business with both the carrier and the retailer. Considering the plethora of choices, you would definitely win. /s Goes back to old George Carlin joke about belonging to a club and you not being in it.
- tomjakubowski 9y ago
  Not to be confused with Groucho Marx's joke about belonging to clubs. :-) Carlin's bit, for reference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU
  - losteverything 9y ago
    Omg. He sounds a little like trump and he also 'sounds' like trump. Great share
    - ccrush 9y ago
      Carlin hated government and both parties with a passion, but he leaned a bit liberal by his own admission. That said, he would be disappointed to hear he's being compared to Donald Trump. See his bits on the "business man" and "politicians" for reference.
smoyer 9y ago
One time at a trade-show/conference I set up a few APs that appeared to offer free wi-fi. It was a walled garden with a custom DNS set up so that any attempt to browse the Internet resulted in a beautiful web page extolling our start-up, products and proving directions to our booth. But I completely agree with you - if you're getting a free connection, look for the attached strings.
- ralfd 9y ago
  Did it work?
  - smoyer 9y ago
    According to the logs there were about 1200 people who viewed our promotion - we had pretty good traffic to our booth but we had also generated some buzz before the conference started. Overall I'd have to guess it had a mixed effect - maybe half the people thought it was clever and half were irritated that they didn't really get free wi-fi.

super-fake 9y ago

That would show them!

shadow_banned 9y ago

That would show em!

paki123 9y ago
If a lot of people did it, wouldn't it show em?

devoply 9y ago

> Now, if they somehow convinced Verizon or ATT to interfere with the network access that I am paying for, that would be a problem and I'd stop doing business with both the carrier and the retailer. Considering the plethora of choices, you would definitely win. /s Goes back to old George Carlin joke about belonging to a club and you not being in it.

tomjakubowski 9y ago
Not to be confused with Groucho Marx's joke about belonging to clubs. :-) Carlin's bit, for reference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKUaqFzZLxU
- losteverything 9y ago
  Omg. He sounds a little like trump and he also 'sounds' like trump. Great share
  - ccrush 9y ago
    Carlin hated government and both parties with a passion, but he leaned a bit liberal by his own admission. That said, he would be disappointed to hear he's being compared to Donald Trump. See his bits on the "business man" and "politicians" for reference.

smoyer 9y ago

One time at a trade-show/conference I set up a few APs that appeared to offer free wi-fi. It was a walled garden with a custom DNS set up so that any attempt to browse the Internet resulted in a beautiful web page extolling our start-up, products and proving directions to our booth. But I completely agree with you - if you're getting a free connection, look for the attached strings.

ralfd 9y ago
Did it work?
- smoyer 9y ago
  According to the logs there were about 1200 people who viewed our promotion - we had pretty good traffic to our booth but we had also generated some buzz before the conference started. Overall I'd have to guess it had a mixed effect - maybe half the people thought it was clever and half were irritated that they didn't really get free wi-fi.