Using Public WiFi in Cafes, Pubs etc

[That Jekka Gal]

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?

 

[That Jekka Gal]

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.

I can't connect via mobile data to my work secure VPN plus the fact that signal is v weak where I live. Have exploref these ootions

 

[That Jekka Gal]

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.

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.

 

[That Jekka Gal]

Oh well - looks like I'll have to schlepp to the McCafe then.

I've seen daily stand ups going on in there before now

 

[That Jekka Gal]

What about a library?

Can't do Teams calls in there, really.

 

[That Jekka Gal]

Are there hot desk places near to you? Your employer may help with the costs.

Yes, £40 pd + £15 pd to park in centre of Bath, plus I'll have to drive in and out twice a day to let dog out, though I could ask the neighbours (I haven't met yet).

Also, I don't have an employer - I'm a contractor

 

[That Jekka Gal]

Yeah but if your new neighbor who you don't know asks if they can piggy back your wifi for a couple of weeks, then you have no way of knowing if they're using a VPN (even if they explicitly state they will be) - Bad idea to let an unknown person on your connection as you're liable for anyting dodgy they may do (or any fair use policies, although it would take a lot to hit bandwidth limits). It'd be a very unusual scenario but it's entirely possiblle.

I've never come across a business VPN that discriminates against mobile data (and you can easily get an unlimted SIM for around £25/mo - I'd recommend Smarty as when I used them they had no throttling policy, wheras a lot of the others did after however many GB!).
Even if they do then you could run it through a consumer VPN first (nord/PIA/surfshark etc.) and they'd have no way of knowing, unless they're also blocking those VPNs.

Library, or a coffee shop where people are often using it for work, would probably go over easier than a pub though.

I'm connecting to a very secure network (military), not just any old VPN

 

[That Jekka Gal]

Why not use the library?

As I said above, libraries are silent places so can't really do my daily standup on Teams

 

[That Jekka Gal]

Funny you should say that read an article on this a while ago, independents are really fed up with them they treat it as their private office space and rarely spend any money:

The cafes waging war on laptop-wielding freeloaders

With some customers treating family-run coffeeshops like free coworking spaces, business owners are rewriting the rules

www.telegraph.co.uk

Lol when was the last place you were in one? Screaming kids on activity days which is pretty much everyday govt seems keen on pushing them as free creches

Hmm...interesting. For this reason I tend to avoid independents and go to more chainy type places.

As for your comment about libraries, I can honestly say I haven't set foot in one for well over a decade & I assumed they were still places where making the slightest sound would invite a strong rebuke from the librarian.