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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Cleaner asked for wifi password

32 replies

Ezs23 · 09/04/2018 17:11

My cleaner had to bring her child with her on Thursday which i said was ok as she's a single mum and it must be difficult arranging childcare in the holidays. She asked for our wifi password so her daughter could watch cartoons whilst she worked which I can understand. My mum said I should change the password now. I don't think that's necessary but then it got me thinking, for those of you who have cleaners, do they have your wifi password? She's relatively new (2months) so it's not like I know her like a longstanding cleaner. She does 2 hours a week.

OP posts:
reallyreallyreallytired · 09/04/2018 17:14

I wouldn’t have minded tbh or I would have said she can sit them in front of the tv depending on age

HappydaysArehere · 09/04/2018 18:34

She’s only got your wi fi while she is in your home. She cannot do anything with it unless she has your passwords etc . Your mum might be confusing your wi fi with passwords!

64BooLane · 09/04/2018 18:37

Why would it be a worry? Surely it can only be used if in range?

I gave a former cleaner ours and never thought twice about it. Wondering if I’ve missed something Confused

fleaflyflo · 09/04/2018 18:38

What's the problem? Confused

outabout · 09/04/2018 18:42

It could be a problem IF they are 'clever', are at all malicious and within range (about 5 Metres from the house at best) so although not totally secure the chances of a problem are minimal.

Original poster
Ezs23 · 09/04/2018 18:43

Yeah that's what I thought. I think my mum's just being unnecessarily suspicious Hmm

OP posts:
SillyMoomin · 09/04/2018 18:44

I’d change it. You never know what she’s downloading onto her phone thats linked to your IP address in future

Plus, if she ever asks for it again, you know she’s been checking her phone and not cleaning

GeorgeTheHippo · 09/04/2018 18:48

All my kids' friends have our wifi password, it's just normal for teenagers I think.

ourkidmolly · 09/04/2018 18:50

@SillyMoomin
That's a rather derogatory way to ideal about another person who presumably you trust enough to have in your home and clean it. She's a cleaner not a slave. So what if she checks her phone whilst she's there? Premier imagine you glance at yours whilst at work. Your tone is unnecessarily demeaning.

AhNowTed · 09/04/2018 18:52

Ffs fuss a about nothing. Silly you're being ridiculous

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 09/04/2018 18:55

Bloody hell sillymoomin, do you think you are buying your cleaner's soul along with her time?

SillyMoomin · 09/04/2018 19:00

Well I my last cleaner did rack up such a large amount of downloading that we went over our limit - turned out she was bringing her iPad and downloading as many episodes of whatever she was watching whilst she was cleaning to watch later in the week as her Wifi didn’t give her bag much data allowance (!)

I only realised when our broadband bill rocketed and I had to ask friends then family then finally anyone I could think of who knew our password.

So no, I don’t own my cleaners soul. And she’s not a slave. But equally, the op has only known her cleaner for 2 months. It was nice of her to give her the password. But personally, now the child with the iPad has gone, I’d change it.

Cat12321 · 09/04/2018 20:40

I'd give her the benefit of the doubt. It must be tough for her with a young child and lack of affordable childcare during the holidays.

If you see the bill skyrocket, (i.e she's taking the piss) then of course change the password, but if it helps someone keep their kid occupied for a little while whilst they're working, I think it's fine Smile

SunshineAfterRain · 09/04/2018 20:46

I would change it to be honest.
If I was paying for someone to clean my house I wouldn't expect to provide Wi-Fi as they should only be cleaning in my home.
Maybe it's a good job I can't afford a cleaner as I might be a mean boss 😂😂

UnRavellingFast · 10/04/2018 01:05

It's completely normal nowadays to ask for WiFi password. I think OP's dm is getting confused what with all the warnings about fraud. Poor cleaner is not going arrange a Machiavellian take over of her life Grin

ReversingSnail · 10/04/2018 09:06

Change it anyway, you have nothing to lose by doing so.

StealthNinjaMum · 10/04/2018 10:44

Maybe I'm untrusting I agree with Silly Moomin but I wouldn't dream of giving someone my wifi password in case they use it when I'm not around, make me run out of bandwidth or just use it to look up dodgy stuff.

catlover1987 · 10/04/2018 13:46

I probably wouldn't give my cleaner my password - I'd be worried she'd be arsing about online instead of actually cleaning!

CakesAreGreat · 18/05/2018 18:52

Well folks, I've just gone into my broadband account to check useage for a different reason and have noticed a huge spike in usage on the day she cleans. We aren't using it any differently on that day - it should actually be slightly less than normal as I'm often out when she's here but there's an obvious pattern of 6-10GB more usage on those days. She doesn't have broadband at home so I think she might be downloading things here to save using her data. There's no real way of knowing for sure but it seems pretty obvious to me. So frustrating.

Branleuse · 18/05/2018 19:00

sounds like shes downloading when she is there. Do you have unlimited useage?

ALY44 · 18/05/2018 19:01

Just change your password then it takes 2 seconds?

CakesAreGreat · 18/05/2018 19:24

Aly44 yeah I have done. I just feel she's taken advantage of the situation. If she'd asked if I minded her downloading some films on a one off occasion I would have said that's fine. It seems sly to do it every time she's been.

FrogFairy · 18/05/2018 22:01

Sorry to jump in here, hoping someone might be able to post easy instructions for changing my WiFi password if it only takes two seconds. I only have an iPad of that makes any difference.

Sorry to sound such a wet lettuce. I have tried googling in the past but
I am worried I will lock myself out and can’t live without t’internet.

SillyMoomin · 21/05/2018 13:00

It depends who your Wifi is with @FrogFairy

Sky for example, you would type into the search bar 192.168.0.1 then follow the instructions

BT you'd type in 192.168.1.254

Just google "change my wifi password + your service provider"

Eatsleepworkrepeat · 21/05/2018 13:42

You can set your phone settings to only update when on WiFi - if she doesnt have it at home then her updates would wait until she is in range of your router and then would automatically complete any updates there. Does it actually matter?