Neighbours broadband

[FawnFrenchieMum]

Would this be a neighbourly favour or CF to ask?
We are moving broadband providers, the new one has disconnected today and they are coming tomorrow 8-1 to fit the new one. I have to be at home for this to happen.
I’ve just had a meeting drop into my calendars that I can’t really get out of so was thinking of knocking next door and asking if they would mind me connecting to theirs just for the morning.
Background - next door is too elderly ladies. We smile and say hello if we see each other but it’s rare we do. They don’t go out much at all. Have lots of other neighbours on the street that we are on much friendly terms with who I wouldn’t think twice to ask, unfortunately their connections wouldn’t reach.

YABU - Don’t even think about asking CF
YANBU - Of course you ask, why wouldn’t you?

Very naive, for a start you could be hacked. I'd never let a random neighbour join my WiFi!

I think we can on our router but it's not a bog standard BT one.

Don't ask. It will be too hard for them to say no.

You shouldn't be scheduling things for during work hours.

Just tell the truth and miss the meeting, technical difficulties and Internet won't connect! Enjoy your free time! Surely it can be caught up after and isn't such a big deal to sit on zoom for an hour to put neighbours at risk as others have stated. Just Enjoy your morning, I would. Can get caught up on meeting after or rearrange.

Reschedule the meeting or go elsewhere for a signal.

The truth is more like OP scheduled downtime for during working hours

So, you're either on annual leave (as you won't be able to work with no WiFi, and have booked the morning off to wait in for the broadband guy) and won't be able to attend the meeting anyway, or you're a cf who's planning to both wfh without Internet accessibility and ask your neighbours to give you their WiFi password so your boss won't know you are trying to wfh with no Internet.

My home broadband was shite recently and I needed a big hardware update - all booked in on my wfh day with managers blessing, knew I'd be offline an hour or so - blocked out my diary all morning and they actually came when I'd usually take an early lunch, so fitted right in with my working day.

Big difference op. Either way, you're in cf territory

actually i thought yanbu but then thought they wouldnt like to say no to you but it is a bit of an imposition, particularly if they are sweet old ladies and it might make them nervous

Some 'sweet old ladies' are aware of security issues, thank you very much.

Bloody well said!

No you’re not. Any more than a public WiFi provider is responsible for any illegal activities conducted on public WiFi.

Do you not give your wifi password to visiting friends and relations? How is that different to giving it to your neighbours?

I have had to hotspot from my phone for whole work days before when my WiFi has been a bit dodgy, it supports video calls fine and takes less data than you'd think. Definitely preferable to asking the old ladies next door.

If a friend or relative is in my house, it's because I know and trust them,

I don't know or trust my neighbours!

@puncheur visiting friends and relations are know a lot more to me. They will also leave the area and therefore lose access to my WiFi, my neighbour will be in range permanently.

That’s very sad that you don’t know or trust your neighbours. I do mine. We’ve been neighbours for over 20 years.

No. I would not share my password with my neighbours.

I think you have other options as people have already described.

I often use my phone hotspot for video calls, it’s better than my Wi-Fi for stability.

Because visitors will use it while they’re there, then they’ll leave. Neighbours could decide to cancel their own broadband and use yours instead for ever, unless you change your password, which is a right pain.

I would never ask to use a neighbour's WiFi, just use your phone hotspot.

I've video called off my phone hotspot loads of times.

Same. I have to travel a lot for work and using my work phone’s hotspot is the only way I can access work documents when on the move

Never had an issue with video calls

@puncheur you do understand that not everyone has been neighbours for over 20 years and that fraudsters etc live next door to someone.

Hilarious that you think your experience of neighbours should be the same as others!

@puncheur not everyone has lived in the same place for two decades 🤷‍♀️

I know them to say hello to but I wouldn't want them using our internet. That's hardly sad 😂

Our BT and Sky accounts definitely let you set up a guest account you can later change the password on so as to avoid changing it for your oven (?), TV, etc. On one service you can even time limit it so it expires at a set point rather than rolling over and set its own parental controls. Ideal for teenage guests.

As some PPs suggest, your neighbours might be aware of the risks of giving out WiFi access and say no anyway.

But if they’re not, I don’t think it should be normalised by you asking them (even if it is innocently), as older people are particularly vulnerable to scams and fraud. They might think ‘nothing bad happened last time’ if someone with more nefarious intentions asked for access later down the line.