To ask if you know this reason why strangers may be hanging about outside your home?

[ATadShocked]

NC as I have spoken to people about this IRL.

I didn't know until very recently that our home broadband hub in our hallway is also being used as a public wi-fi hotspot by other passing BT/EE customers - did you?!

If, like me, you didn't know that and have noticed strangers hanging about outside your home with their phones then this may be the reason. I had assumed all the hotspots were in businesses or via masts, so I was a bit perturbed when I found out by accident that our hub was a hotspot. I would have liked to have been asked first. You can opt out, but only if you don't want to use other BT/EE hotspots yourself.

YABU: Yes, I knew my hub was also a public wi-fi hotspot and I don't mind

YANBU: No, I didn't know and I don't like the idea or I should at least have been asked to opt in

Ah, no mobile signal makes more sense!

I think next time people are loitering outside you should go out and ask them why, I highly doubt it's because of the WiFi so it might put your mind at rest. More likely to be a meeting spot for something or Pokémon go as PP's have said. I walk to the gym with a friend and always wait outside the same house for her, I have wondered if the owners ever notice me/ wonder what I'm doing but if they came out and asked I would tell them.

It’s been like that for so many years , I used to park outside a BT broadband house when I picked my daughter up as I could use their WiFi , and that must have been about 7 years ago . BT see it as an advantage that their customers have free WiFi virtually everywhere via this method , in return for being part of the scheme .

However you can turn it off if you want , so you don’t share yours and in return don’t use anyone else’s . I’ve never had to bother about adding a data package to my phone in all those years , as between home , workplaces , this scheme and general free WIFI I’m always covered . However if you don’t take advantage of it yourself then I can see you would want to turn your own off . However in normal circumstances it shouldn’t bother you , as your own traffic is prioritised .

Theraffarian just out of interest - how much does your phone cost per month without a data package?

It’s why I use BT, it gives me so much access to hotspots.
Back in the day of small data allowances it was a lifesaver

Has Wi-Fi even been around for decades?!

Has Wi-Fi even been around for decades?!

WiFi has existed since 1997, so nearly 30 years.

1997, so a couple.
We got it around 20 years ago.

Also, I live in a main road in London near a bus stop and shops. No idea if anyone is there for the wi-if, but I’ve never noticed it in particular. Not have I ever returned to the same hot spot over and over! It’s cold and dark outside most the time, seems an odd way to access the Internet when cafes, shopping centres and libraries etc are warm with wi-if

I’d out money on you having a pokestop near the house if there are genuinely groups with their phones out

Oh wow! That's longer than I thought.

@Chasingsquirrels this is going to sound so outdated , but I’m on a PAYG , so I top it up with £10 every few months , which covers the odd occasion I might have needed to pop the data on . My in built car GPS does all my navigating and lets me know about traffic queues and diversions I can take. Make calls via WhatsApp, message via it , rarely text . I’m guessing it sometimes takes 30 seconds to log into a restaurants WIFI etc that people can’t be bothered with .

I didn't know this was a thing and I certainly wouldn't want to pay for something that strangers can obtain for free. I would be worried about someone being able to hack into my data.
And no way I would want a bunch of strangers loitering out side my house!!

If you changed the router would that solve the problem?

Gosh. It's only 9am and I've learnt something! I'm with BT and had no idea.

Cheap home wifi wasn't easily available 27 years ago.

We worked from home reliant on Ethernet cables until... 2004?

You pay for the ability to access BT WiFi pretty much wherever you go.

It doesn't increase the risk of someone accessing your data.

Vanishingly unlikely to result in strangers loitering outside your house.

If it didn't take away my bandwidth, and their searches/sites they visit didn't go on my router or whatever, I wouldn't care. People can stand in the street for any reason.

If their sites DO go on your history or whatever then that isn't on, they could be accessing all sorts.

@HappiestSleeping

So can he literally see everything that I'm doing? All my Internet history and what apps I'm on?

And is that whether I'm on my phone or a laptop?

I'm an absolute muppet with tech. I've asked friends in the past who work in tech and cyber security, they've assured me I've nothing to worry about.

He definitely has the ability and is horrible enough that he would do this. Is there anyway I could find out if he has?

Each of those questions requires a slightly different answer, but yes, if he has access to your network, it is possible that he could have complete access to all devices that are connected to that same network.

This takes quite a bit of specialist knowledge, and is unlikely, but it is definitely possible.

Does this just apply to BT/EE or do any of the other ISPs do it? Sky for example?

As has been said, BT have been doing this for years. I find it very handy. I much prefer to use WiFi than my meagre mobile data allowance.

Yes, I have known this was a thing for ages. But we live in the middle of bloody nowhere. Like even the Amazon guy refuses to drive to our house some days and leaves parcels in the hedge somewhere down the lane. We have never been worried about foot traffic going by. But yes, I think we disabled it when we set it up. We have PlusNet now anyway.

I have been grateful to use the open network when I've been away in my van and want to use the iPad.
I don't mind returning the favour either.

If you replace the BT router with your own router (Netgear and D-Link are good) you'll stop providing the hotspot but still be able to use free EE Wifi.

Apple's Find My Phone and Airtag work in an analogous way - by using the iPhones of passers-by. Again, you can opt out of it, but then you won't be able to use Find My Phone or Airtags.

Van you say? Working days?
That'll be a tradie, who had to rush off the job at 2pm to "collect his child" or visit a "dying relative" or a "quick run to pick up supplies". He was then never seen again and left the job unfinished and the roof botched.

Whole of Mumsnet could do with your address @Andthereyougo !

That's much more likely ⬆️ 😆