Welcome to my weekly rant. Friday is rant from the soapbox day. It’s therapeutic getting things of my chest, and it’s my blog so I will rant if I want to…?
This week’s rant?
We recently recieved a letter from our internet and phone provider. They have come up with a super, fabulous idea that apparently we should be embracing.
It seems that there is a desperate need for wifi and internet access everywhere we go. So not just whilst you are popping down to the shops and need to check you mail whilst you are in the supermarket, or catch up on Instagram whilst you are waiting in the dentist, or sitting in a cafe having your lunch, but now when you are walking down my street, or anyone’s street, you MUST have internet access, because otherwise the world to end. You might be walking from the bus stop to your house, and suddenly decide you need to check Facebook, or you may need access to a map, or to order takeaway because you haven’t sorted dinner, or you may want to face-time your mum (on a side note, people who walk along talking to people on video look stupid, but that’s a rant for another day) or you may feel the need to share your walk home with all your SnapChat fans… the reasons why you need internet whilst you are walking down my road, are endless and vital… (yes, I am being sarcastic!)
So, the cunning plan?
Our wifi box, will now become a superhub. Using some marvelous technology that they swear blind is secure, safe and won’t affect the speed, people who are signed up with my provider, can now piggyback off my wifi when they are walking past or stopping outside my house, and they will be able to see who has the service and use that. Basically our home wifi will become a public hot spot that anyone who uses that particular provider will be able to use.
They sent us a letter reassuring us that it was a fabulous idea, that it was a vital thing that people need to use wifi all the time, and that it really was safe and secure. They did point out that we can opt out of this scheme, which of course we immediately did. We are mean, we don’t want to share our wifi with the world. Sorry about that!
I don’t believe for one minute that this system is safe or secure. They cannot assure us that other people piggy backing off our wifi means that at no point there is a data risk, for either us or the person using our wifi. I also know from using public hot spots that they can be slow and not that reliable, and I don’t feel we should be paying what we pay a month for super fast (well, in theory) broadband, so that other people can use it (yes, they technically are paying for it too, because they are signed up for the service too)
I cannot think why they think there is a dire need for this service. Do people really need to be accessing wifi ALL the time, and when they happen to be in our street? Do I really want people lurking outside our house so they can temporarily login to use the wifi? I have visions of weirdos sitting in their car in the road using our wifi via this shared service.
I actually chatted with the company to ask them why they honestly thought this was a good idea, and of course they gave me their spiel about it being safe, and that it was important for people to be accessing wifi where ever they go and that the world wants to be connected 24/7…
Really? Can we not cope if we can’t access the internet and data ALL the time. Their argument that some people might not have good data on their phone and only want to use wifi doesn’t wash with me either, why should my internet be your back up?
That’s lovely, but we aren’t signing up for it. You want wifi? You will have to find it elsewhere.
I honestly think that internet and phone service providers need to be focusing on better customer service, better actual service (lets not talk about the ten days recently where we had no internet access and the company LIED to us about what the problem was, and took ages to fix it) and making sure that broadband provided is actually what they say it is, and also looking at their prices. Dare I mention that the amount we pay has also risen for what we use, and now it seems we are also paying for other people to use it too.
I am feeling very much like Victor Meldrew this week about it…
What do you think? Do we really need instant and always access to data and the internet? Can people really not survive and being able to access other people’s wifi in domestic areas is a life essential?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Thus endeth my Friday Rant. Have a fab weekend! If you have a rant of your own, feel free to share it!
I can not believe what I just read. They must be losing their last marble if they think that is smart or okay. I could see that. People stopped for hours in their cars in front of people home using the WiFi as they please. No one needs to be that connected all the time. Our service is terrible I could not imagine trying to pull that off.
I agree! If they are so concerned about it, then they can work with officials or business owners to set up public not spots.