End of Free Wi-Fi Coming?

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Article in Bloomberg that postulates that as unlimited cellular data plans spread, it will mean the end of free wi-fi.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...fi-looks-possible-as-unlimited-plans-catch-on

 

[GRACIAJ]

Until Unlimited data is dirt cheap I don't see why free wi-fi will end. Maybe the article is just a marketing thing to get more people into buying unlimited wifi. Fear generates economy.

 

[jimindenver]

I have to agree. Currently most unlimited plans are either too expensive or too limiting to be taken seriously on such a grand scale. Add in that some of the new tech discussed is on unlicensed airwaves, how long before the government finds a way to make money off of them.

 

[ZoNiE]

Just wait until 5G... It's in beta testing now. Faaaaaassssssttttt.

 

[Ballenxj]

Until Unlimited data is dirt cheap I don't see why free wi-fi will end. Maybe the article is just a marketing thing to get more people into buying unlimited wifi.  Fear generates economy.

I agree. Besides, how will McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, and other fine dining establishments entice customers into their "ahem" restaurants without offering free wifi? It's also a coffee shop staple.
No, I don't see them pulling the plug on free wifi any time soon.

 

[TMG51]

Just wait until 5G... It's in beta testing now. Faaaaaassssssttttt.

5G? Baaahh! Just wait until they perfect quantum entanglement computing.

 

[wayne49]

5G? Baaahh! Just wait until they perfect quantum entanglement computing.

Issue with quantum computers is the radioactive cat locked inside the case. Never know if it's dead or alive.

 

[OutdoorFT]

If I dont get free wifi with my starbucks latte, I will just like totally die!

 

[Canine]

Didn't realize Starbucks wifi was free.I thought Starbucks had to pay for ir.

 

[eDJ_]

Well,  Cell Phones pretty well did away with Pay Phone Booths.

 

[TMG51]

Issue with quantum computers is the radioactive cat locked inside the case. Never know if it's dead or alive.

Maybe it's the deceased cat's spirit that affects the particle's superposition.

That's it. Cat ghosts, Herr Schrödinger.

 

[RVTravel]

I think the free wifi will only get cheaper.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I can't imagine it will disappear anytime soon. I don't think it's a huge cost for businesses to provide it, which varies with the size of the business of course and just about every business needs internet for the business's use, so why not offer it if you have it anyways? Most studies show business's that offer it have increased sales and more repeat customers.

I do know the owners of one small local bar/restaurant in my town who purposely don't have it. There reason is they are a very busy restaurant with limited seating and don't want people sitting at a table for hours. And they like a more old time feel of the neighborhood restaurant being a place to socialize, not have everyone in there staring at their phones. There's really no reception in there come to think of it......can you block people's reception if you so chose?

 

[ArtW]

onsidering how many businesses your cell service won't work in, I doubt the wifi is going away soon

 

[blars]

can you block people's reception if you so chose?

Cell phone jammers exist, but are illegal. Law enforcement will sometimes deploy micro cell towers so they can tap phones at a protest or cause calls to some numbers not to go through. (Cell companies use portable towers to provide extra service at events and disaster areas.)

Faraday cages will block all radio signals. Concrete with rebar or enough dirt can make an OK one. Some places are rumored to use metalic wall paper to block cell signals.

On the other hand, some businesses use cell repeaters to let their customers use cell phones where they would not work otherwise.

 

[rvpopeye]

Aluminum sided RV/Van with reflectix in the windows !

 

[slynne]

I have completely stopped using free wifi since I got an unlimited data plan on my phone. I am not alone. However, as has already been mentioned here, it costs a business almost nothing to provide free wifi especially if they are going to have internet for themselves and their employees anyways. So they will likely continue to provide it for some time. Then, as fewer and fewer people are using it, it will become all the faster for those who do. Everyone wins! Yay

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

it costs a business almost nothing to provide free wifi especially if they are going to have internet for themselves and their employees anyways.

I'm not sure I understand why a restaurant or coffee shop would need to have internet to run their business.  And if I owned such a business, I for damn sure wouldn't want my waitresses and dishwashers on the internet on company time.

I don't think free wifi is going away any time soon.  But as you hit the point that 80 or 90 percent of customers use their cell phones for internet access, I think most businesses will not bother to fix broken systems as they happen.  Leaving the remaining 10 to 20 percent of the poorest users scrambling to find free connections.

I would guess that Public Libraries would be the last places providing this service.

 

[frater secessus]

I'm not sure I understand why a restaurant or coffee shop would need to have internet to run their business.  And if I owned such a business, I for damn sure wouldn't want my waitresses and dishwashers on the internet on company time.

A net connection is an all-around better solution for credit card authorization than dialup.  Many timeclock services are web-based now.  And franchised or chain locations have centralized back-ends to do much of the inventory management, payroll, AR/AP, etc.  

In some ways the time spent showing a co-worker a cat video is not so different from the time folks used to spend in the breakroom gossiping networking or outside smoking.  My workplace used to have a very strict no-net policy.  Then they changed their mind when they found that folks could, for example, log into their bank and make a transfer in 3 minutes rather than taking a long lunch (or part of the day off) to go to the branch in person.  And several times a week I use my net access at work to assist a customer.  I've found many stranded/lost folk by using google maps and street view to match what they describe from their car.   


Each business owner will have to make their own call.  When I owned a small biz in the 90s my bright and motivated employees had full access to our T-1 internet feed.  <shrug>

 

[frater secessus]

Regarding the disappearance of free wifi, as long as I have an internet feed I will be providing free wifi.  That's why I want to run my Verizon 3g through a minirouter.

I've been running a separate open access point for neighbors since something like 2005.  To minimize impact to me I run their traffic at a low priority, block port 25,  and route all the traffic through a proxy (TOR, currently).  No one has done anything stupid yet but if they do the proxy should obfuscate the injection point.