If you have a Wi-Fi network in your home and are expecting houseguests, you should anticipate that they might ask you for your password so that they can use the connection. This may occur if you have a family member or friend staying with you for the weekend, and it may also take place if you rent out your home through a service such as Air B&B.
While you might want to be nice by offering up the password, you should give a little thought to doing so before you proceed. Here are some topics to consider before you give the password that allows Wi-Fi access.
Bandwidth Usage
Try to assess how much bandwidth you expect the person to use. If your houseguest is someone who vlogs and will be uploading some videos to YouTube overnight, this could be a concern.
Similarly, if a family member is recovering at your home after surgery and will spend much of his or her day in bed streaming videos, you may also be concerned about the bandwidth usage. This is especially true if it's late in the month, and you've already received a notification from your internet provider that you're close to using 100 percent of your monthly bandwidth.
Online Activities
You don't want anyone who has access to your Wi-Fi connection to engage in any improper or illegal online activities. If it's a family member visiting you, you can probably get a sense of whether this will be an issue or not.
However, in the cast of an unknown houseguest when you're not around, you have no idea what this person will be doing. The last thing you want is a notification from your ISP that someone on your connection has been downloading illegal content and the ISP has received a letter from the organization that posted the content.
Future Use
You should also give some thought to whether this individual might use your connection in the future without your consent. For example, perhaps you decide to give the password thinking that it's a one-off scenario.
However, the person may drive to your neighborhood, park on the street next to your home, and be able to get onto your network because his or her device will automatically remember it. Such an individual may do so for various reasons, including illegal activity. Should this be a concern to you, you may want to avoid sharing the password.
