Would you share your wireless network with neighbors?

[colby]

The biggest issue is that you're liable for whatever they do. If you're comfortable taking that risk on, move to the technical issues. You will be sharing bandwidth, but with cable you're sharing it anyway. If you are capped, they will be a part of your cap - if they stream a lot of media or anything like that, it'll "count" against you.

As for protecting yourself, I like the idea of the "guest" network. If they are on the same wireless network, they are on your local network. Not just access to your data, but if they did get infected with a virus, it would suck if it was spread to you. Local firewalls will definitely help that, and not sharing public files, always use passwords. The guest network just adds that extra layer of protection, separating them from you. Great compromise.

If I knew my neighbors fairly well and it fit all of the above conditions, I'd probably share, especially if it weren't permanent. I would use a secondary network, though. Basically, I'll only let people on my network that I'd let stay in my house, friends and fam. (Even then, if I had a guest network, I might just use that!)

[OakLeaf]

Basically, I'll only let people on my network that I'd let stay in my house, friends and fam. (Even then, if I had a guest network, I might just use that!)

That's me, too. We share our password with houseguests and don't bother to change it after they leave. Other than that, nope.

The other issue that's been mentioned in passing is your agreement with your ISP. Maybe they let it slide, maybe you wind up with a huge stonkin' retroactive bill and your service cancelled. That used to happen all the time back in the day before smartphones, when people were using their phones to connect their PDAs to dialup Internet but not paying for a data plan.

With us, we have a 5-device limit, and we have to be careful not to exceed that even just between the two of us. While I don't really worry about the ISP, the whole network starts going flaky when we accidentally exceed five devices. It usually requires turning off the wireless on all of them and rebooting the router, so it's not a big deal, but it's a PITA, and it would be worse if you had to go over there and knock on their door to ask them to turn the wireless off on a few things. I never use our home WiFi with my phone and DH almost never uses it with his Kindle, but we typically connect a music server, a print server, our iPads, my Kindle, DH's phone, plus the laptops that are in use all the time. Your neighbor's several devices would probably tip you over your limit, too, even if there weren't an issue with people in two households using the network.