Capstone
Kiss My Shiny, Metal Ass
Premium
join:2001-08-12
Springfield, OH
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Acceptable use?
If the owner advertises it as a free internet hotspot, then my purchase of a cup of coffee is payment enough. However, I don't have the time or patience to sit there for "hours". I use the internet at my local coffee shop just long enough to check mail and headlines, then I'm off.
But there's leeches everywhere and if they don't know when to leave, then it's the business owner's right to tell them to do so. If I owned a shop and it was busy, I'd certainly tell the surfer that's been there for 3 hours on 1 cup of coffee to shove off so that others could use the seating. If it wasn't busy though, I'd rather have that person sitting there than have the shop sit empty.
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OK, but I don't want anyone thinking we're robosexuals. |
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scareg
join:2003-10-27
Walla Walla, WA | 30 minutes
30 minutes sounds about fair to me. Shouldn't take any longer to drink a cup of coffee and check/ send a few e-mails. |
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travelguy
join:1999-09-03
Santa Fe, NM
| said by scareg  :30 minutes sounds about fair to me. Shouldn't take any longer to drink a cup of coffee and check/ send a few e-mails. Agree. Wouldn't be that hard to print an access code good for 30 minutes from purchase time at the bottom of a receipt. |
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awax
join:2000-09-25
Fayetteville, AR
| said by travelguy :said by scareg :30 minutes sounds about fair to me. Shouldn't take any longer to drink a cup of coffee and check/ send a few e-mails. Agree. Wouldn't be that hard to print an access code good for 30 minutes from purchase time at the bottom of a receipt. That sounds like a good idea or heck even give them an hour. |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN | Wow commonsense is news?
In other news... Look both ways when crossing the road. |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| *For Me*...
... when I'm at one, I buy a coffee and connect.
A cup of coffee doesn't last me very long. 
Sitting near others swilling their coffee when mine is gone, usually makes me want another - and possibly a blueberry muffin. LOL!
I usually last about 1 hour before I leave - their connection isn't all that fast, so it doesn't have that much appeal *to me*.
I think, if you ARE a paying customer, no matter what or how little you purchase, it should be whatever your battery will last!
No AC! ~3 hours is more than enough for anyone!
NOTE: When I'm "Coffee shop surfing", it's usually in The City(that's San Francisco BTW) and I can usually find a usable signal just about anywhere I am! 
Free = Good, but don't abuse it or you screw it up for everyone!
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Think outside the Fox... Opera |
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quanta
Premium
join:2002-05-07
Toronto, ON | Look to the Captive portal for the answer...
Configure your captive portal to have session timeouts at 1 hour (or whatever). That and have baristas kicking out the determined leeches and problem solved. |
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RobertFranz
@comcast.net
| reply to travelguy
Re: 30 minutes
My experience is that this is really only a problem for shops offering mediocre coffee.
I do IT for a most excellent group that import and roast their own beans, as well as having an awesome group of barristas. Their house coffee is all french press - not a drip maker in the place.
I have yet to see this be a problem for them.
In their shops, there is usually a line of eager customers awaiting their elixer of choice.
Seating does sometimes get a bit crowded - but in a cozy, upbeat way.
I was dragged into a Charbucks a couple of months ago and the contrast was stark.
Plush seats with no one in them, pay-for-use wireless that noone used. lifeless barristas that you could tell had no clue what a good pull was all about. Of course, the coffee was the usual Charbucks rubbish.
Café owners: Get out once in awhile, swallow your pride and go visit a top notch shop and see how it's done.
Coffee drinkers - go to a shop that eschews drip coffee and serves a world class cup.
The downside is that you'll never again be able to settle for less. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
|  Whatever the coffee shop owner says is fair
If you have used - or plan to use - this type of service, what do you feel is an acceptable amount of usage for a 'paying customer' that simply buys a coffee?
As long as the owner has a stated policy(displayed on wall or in menu), then I say what is fair is whatever the owner wants. The owners(or managers in the case of chains) provide free internet access to bring in PAYING, PROFITABLE customers. If that isn't the case, then they can set whatever rules they want(as long as they abide by racial and sexual diversity discrimination laws) to make sure they aren't losing money. Because people taking up tables and not buying are driving away paying customers.
As for me, my policy would be to tell them to move on as soon as they stopped buying and there was also no open tables for new customers to sit at.
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Join Red Room Forum
BLOG tkjunkmail.blogspot.com
My Web Page |
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viperpa33s
Why Me?
Premium
join:2002-12-20
Bradenton, FL | reply to awax
Re: 30 minutes
The McDonald's by me has free wireless internet access. Though McDonald's is not the same as a coffee shop, I would say an hour is fair. |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | reply to awax
Been done for years now. Its just too commercial for some shop owners and requires reprograming the registers. |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | reply to dadkins
Re: *For Me*...
I goto coffee shops to recharge my PDA phone (practically a laptop), I use a cellular broadband network (Verizon EVDO) for all data needs, never wifi. |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | Free?
Where can you find free access? Starbucks and McDonalds charge money for their WiFi access. |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
1 edit | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Whatever the coffee shop owner says is fair
A 24/7 diner in a very high foot traffic area in NYC (Tasty Corner, Astoria NY) recently made a new bathroom policy. $4 minimum to use bathroom unless a customer. Plus now they have a bathroom key. And a door sized poster on the bathroom door saying the new bathroom policy. I used them for all my late night sleepwalking episodes lol. I always bought a coffee ($0.75) each time and tossed it in the trash when i went outside, just to be fair. I havnt tried them asking for the key on a sub $4 item yet, since all the items i bought so far under the new bathroom policy were over $4 dollars and were kitchen prepared, maybe i should order toast for $0.90, takes 4 mins to make, enough waiting around time for bathroom key. They also have a $4 per person minimum for tables. $4 is way too much for one use of bathroom IMO, its cheaper to buy baby wipes and do it in the bushes in a park or on the street. So ultimatly, yeah store owners can be insane and assholes if they have demand. |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX | reply to Bobcat
Re: Free?
Tons of places here in Houston. |
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dadkins
Can you do Blu?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
1 edit | reply to Bobcat
New Jersey, right?
»www.wififreespot.com/nj.html
EDIT: Here, pick a State:
»www.wififreespot.com/ |
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garagerock
Premium
join:2002-06-14
Louisville, KY
| reply to RobertFranz
Re: 30 minutes
what a load of crap. one coffee shop and you generalize that all the other shops must be serving shitty coffee?
there's so many coffee shops in this country that it makes me dizzy just thinking about it. shops that serve "good" coffee have the same problem with freeloaders as ones that serve "bad" coffee-offering free access is the problem, not the coffee or the environment. |
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SYNACK
Just Firewall It
Premium,Mod
join:2001-03-05
Venice, CA
·Comcast Formerly ..
Host:
Networking
Virtual Private Ne..
Netgear
ZyXEL
| The problem really has nothing to do with wireless
The same problem arises if somebody buys one cup of coffee, then studies for finals, reads a book or newspapers, or knits a sweater for the rest of the day.
It is only a problem once the shop is full and there are no empty tables left. At any other time, the place has an interest to keep a somewhat successful appearance. It is better for business if there are customers present at all times. If nobody is in there, people might be suspicious about the product quality and pass.
OTOH, If the place is always packed, maybe the shop is successful enough to warrant an expansion.  |
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RobertFranz
@comcast.net
| reply to garagerock
Re: 30 minutes
"shops that serve "good" coffee have the same problem with freeloaders as ones that serve "bad" coffee-offering free access is the problem, not the coffee or the environment."
So why is it that it's a problem for some shops and not others?
I maintain that it's a matter of respect and quality of clientele.
If you have a superior product for which you charge a premium price that people gladly pay, it tends to weed out the freeloaders.
What's your explanation? |
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eddiethenewguy
@calltech.com
| reply to Bobcat
Re: Free?
ok i had never even looked at mcdonalds (rarely go in just the mighty drive through ummmmmmm fries)
how dare they dare to charge for something thats supposed to be an attraction, if i need wifi and cant poach off of somewhere then off to kinkos i go for an arm and a leg (LOL or a nearby nice neighborhood they seem to bristle with open access points) |
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