Internet access for free...why?

[Muddycup]

its good to charge a fee for your in house computers to cover the cost of the computers and upkeep, the wireless wifi should be free. god job at generating $6000 a month.

jim

[Coffee Forum]

[paulys]

i'm getting ready to open a coffee/ice creem shop. i was originally planning on offering free wifi, but i've heard a few horror stories of people coming and parking themselves for hours and only buying a single cup of coffee or such.

for those of you with the free wifi have you experienced this?

i might have a computer or two set-up for other users, i haven't decided on it yet. i was thinking about trying to get set-up with t-mobile so that users with their accounts could have access at my shop without signing on with another provider (me).

while i think the $6000/month is a great revenue stream i also think it's highly due to the location. if you weren't near the military base would you have as many people interested in it?

[CCafe]

I systematically check my network and then if there are users in the store. A few times I have found nobody in the store but the network was being fully utilized. I checked the router and found 1 person using some form of file sharing so I simply banned that person's mac address. I will in a month or so delete it but until then they can go somewhere else. I get around 2 to 3 a month.

We also permanently ban Internet access for anyone caught using sniffing software on our network. This can also result in a permanent ban from or store.

[morrisn]

We have free WIFI and find that we get a lot of people who travel will stop because of it and they have luch, etc while they are there, to the odd person who abuses it we gently remind them it is for customers and that cures the problem

[Australian]

[quote]Coffeeshop Turns off Wi-Fi on Weekends

By Glenn Fleishman

Pic CafemenuIt’s too early to say whether it’s a trend, but Victrola Coffee & Art in Seattle shuts down its free Wi-Fi on Saturday and Sunday: I spoke to co-owner and co-founder Jen Strongin today after a colleague tipped me to the fact that this lovely, single-shop coffee establishment had decided to experiment with taking back its culture by turning off the Wi-Fi juice on weekends.

Strongin said that the five-year-old cafe added free Wi-Fi when it seemed their customers wanted it a couple of years ago. It initially brought in more people, she said, but over the past year “we noticed a significant change in the environment of the cafe.â€

[beefybean]

An option I have been considering is to use the WEP encryption, then print the password on the POS reciept. It can be changed daily, and a purchase is required. No special systems, just a few minutes of setup. If you don't get to it, no problem, yesterday's still works.

Keeps out the squatters, parking lot squatters, etc.. A bit inconvenient for regulars, but free wireless.... It doesn't stop someone from buying a coffee and hanging out for 6 hours at your 4 person booth, but that is a different issue.

[ConfusedVorlon]

An option I have been considering is to use the WEP encryption, then print the password on the POS reciept. It can be changed daily, and a purchase is required. No special systems, just a few minutes of setup. If you don't get to it, no problem, yesterday's still works.

Keeps out the squatters, parking lot squatters, etc.. A bit inconvenient for regulars, but free wireless.... It doesn't stop someone from buying a coffee and hanging out for 6 hours at your 4 person booth, but that is a different issue.

you might want to consider wifitastic to charge for wifi access. You can set the rates at any level you like for an hour/day/week/month, which should help you manage the abuse issue.

It should be easier than managing passwords. I've posted mroe details in the business to business section
http://www.coffeeforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3706

[unit_number_43]

As a Barista AND Web Designer I really strongly feel that WiFi should be free. Yeah it's a good source of money, but information should be free. Basically if you have a wireless network for your own computers, why wouldn't you want to give it away for free, it's not like you need all that bandwith. It doesn't mean your connection needs to be great, whatever you already use is fine.

The bottom line, if it's a strain on your business then don't bother. But if you can easily pull it off, there's no reason not to offer it for free. Besides it's sure to attract customers, I often went to a local shop which had wifi just for that reason.

[aeneas1]

if you charge for wi-fi you become a de facto isp (imo) which is a hat i don't care to wear - if the system is slow, customers want an explanation, if it goes down or service is interrupted for short or long periods you become the reason why a user couldn't meet their deadline, if a user has trouble logging on you become a troubleshooter, etc., etc. etc.

obviously every operation is different - i do a brisk lunch a dinner business (full menu) on top of my coffee service and roasting so having a single person (why bring friends when you can bring a pc?) take up a table for 3+ hours, regardless if he/she spent for lunch, doesn't work for me. 7 soloists taking up 7 tables with their laptops would sink me!

since i already had a broadband connection in my office for my business needs, i decided to pop in a wireless router which cost very little. i don't advertise and customers are pleasantly surprised when their laptops light up indicating that they are in a hot zone. but, interestingly, they don't feel a sense of entitlement given that i don't advertise as an internet cafe - quite to the contrary, most customers are actually covert about their usage; as if they stumbled onto a free ride or back door (which, of course, they immediately turn their friends on to) and, consequently, are very careful not to rock the boat! and if i get busy and want to scoot them on their way, all i have to do is put my modem in stand by and the free lunch is over.

but, honestly, i have never had to this - so far everyone has been very considerate and appreciative and are more than willing to move to the bar or call it quits if my cafe starts to fill up as oppossed to indignantly taking up a 4-top!

[ConfusedVorlon]

i don't advertise and customers are pleasantly surprised when their laptops light up indicating that they are in a hot zone. but, interestingly, they don't feel a sense of entitlement given that i don't advertise as an internet cafe - quite to the contrary, most customers are actually covert about their usage

Funny how people react when they think they've found a secret!
Having said that, I ended up in Starbucks in edinburgh last weekend. I spent $10 for an hour of internet plus a latte and a muffin each for me and my partner. Total of $25-30 I expect.

Anyway, I was perfectly happy to pay for the internet access (I needed it to sort work email) but would have been much happier if it could have been at some independant coffee house. Unfortunately, though I checked 4 or 5 other cafes, none of them had internet - or at lease noone had signs i could see.

I guess my point is that in some locations at least, there is some benefit to advertising a service!