Using Public WiFi in Cafes, Pubs etc

That Jekka Gal

That Jekka Gal

That Jekka Gal

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Joined
2 Oct 2019
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I'm awaiting my broadband installation in my new house (a 4 week lead time, would you believe...) so having to use various public places with wifi.

Now, I'm not the sort to spend half a day in a busy pub taking up table space whilst only consuming a glass of tap water for the duration.

Say I'm there 5 hours; I'll order a cokd, then a coffee and finish off with another coke. Even so, I'm increasingly gettjng the feeling that my prescence isn't wrlcome. I haven't bedn asked go leave yet but frequently get pressured to buy something else.

Maybe there are so many digital nomads these days that places are gettjng frd up. I guess the solutikn is to to an anonymous chain type place where the staff don't give a damn but that's a long trip into the city for me.

What are people's thoughts on etiquette when using a business' free wifi?
 
Yaayuh! said:
I would suggest you sign up to a month-rolling SIM package and use mobile data. Either via a 4G/5G router at home or on your phone and tether.
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oh yeah that's true, three do a one month "trial" of their 4g/5g internet for £22 or so
 
Depends how busy the pub is.

If you are sat there for 5 hours nursing a coke when they could be using your table for someone wanting food then they will be pretty annoyed.

I would probably be expecting to buy a few drinks and a sandwich or something if there for that long.

Also depends what kind of work you’re doing. Sitting quietly on your laptop in the corner of an empty pub seems ok if you’re spending a bit of money. Joining zoom calls and the like would be pretty unacceptable.
 
ben1987 said:
Depends how busy the pub is.

If you are sat there for 5 hours nursing a coke when they could be using your table for someone wanting food then they will be pretty annoyed.

I would probably be expecting to buy a few drinks and a sandwich or something if there for that long.

Also depends what kind of work you’re doing. Sitting quietly on your laptop in the corner of an empty pub seems ok if you’re spending a bit of money. Joining zoom calls and the like would be pretty unacceptable.
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Yes, I buy a few drinks - probably spend a tenner or so in the few hours I'm there but, yes, I have to do Teams calls though I try to be as sotto voce as possible.
 
tell them you will advertise their business on your social media, then buy a few pepsi's, take a picture of you sipping said pepsi's whilst smiling and their business logo in the background, and proceed to post it again on social media


or just tether to a mobile phone and dont buy the pepsi's, go sit on a park bench or at home
 
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Just talk to the managment before you sit down, explain your situ, and say if it gets busy and it looks like you're in the way of other customers, then you will of course leave.. I find if you've explained and asked.. then they really don't mind at all.. It's when people just turn up and use it as an office that sometimes people get a bit miffed, especially the sitting for 5 hours, eating / drinking very little..
 
Personally, I think it’s unacceptable to leech off of a pubs WiFi in this way. It’s like the people who sit with a coke for 90 mins so they can watch the football for free. It’s free to you but it certainly isn’t free to the business. If you’re in a pub for 5 hours using their wi-fi, I’d expect you to buy a pint of beer or soft drink at least every hour. Dont buy pints of cheap orange, they cost pennies and offer no value to the pub at all.
 
That Jekka Gal said:
Yes, I buy a few drinks - probably spend a tenner or so in the few hours I'm there but, yes, I have to do Teams calls though I try to be as sotto voce as possible.
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No offence here but I can probably see why they aren’t particularly keen.

You’re spending a tenner, £2 an hour to use their WiFi and using a table up that they’ll most likely be hoping someone eats at. Food is pubs biggest earner. They often make pennies on drinks.

If it’s a village pub someone sat in there joining zoom calls is probably off putting to their regulars as well. I doubt it’s the vibe they want. It’s not like they’re a collaborative working area cafe thing.
 
Buy a van then park it close enough for the Wi-Fi to work…. Then you don’t have to even buy drinks.. lol

That said, it’s our company policy not to be located in a place where you can be overheard if your attending a meeting due to security/confidentiality… one of our former managers was wife was so loud, we swear she’s joined the meeting herself, he used to swear bind that she was in another room.. lol
 
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