It's all cons for me. They are asking to mooch off of you instead of paying for wi fi. The bigger issue is liability. I believe that if they did anything illegal using your wi fi such as pirate videos etc or child porn you would bear some responsibility. That's a deal breaker by itself. It also makes your home computer vulnerable to them hacking to access your banking information. If you are good at tech I'm sure you can make this a non issue. If you aren't it could be a very big problem. I just wouldn't want to take a chance that people that I didnt know very well aren't going to commit some kind of criminal acts using my wi fi. It's much too big of a chance to take in my opinion.
Edited: Kyrroeth on 10th Dec, 2016 - 11:22pm
Kyrroeth make some good points and for those very reasons I wouldn't do it either but it does make me think about those places that do offer free wi-fi… how do they do it with so many people logging in… who knows what they could be doing to the wi-fi provider.
Yes, mostly cons. On the other side you have to consider what happens if you say "No" to what people think is a simple request but if they really knew about what Kyrroeth mentioned then they probably wouldn't see it as simple or even ask.
It is a simple request. If they got upset because I didn't let them use my wi fi for free then I know for sure I made the right decision. It's not their right to use my wi fi. Would you ask someone to borrow their car because they have one and you don't? They are different levels of assistance but it is the same thing essentially. I am speaking about the neighbor that you barely know. Friends or family is a different thing of course.
Edited: Kyrroeth on 11th Dec, 2016 - 12:17am
How well do you really know someone if they are your neighbor. We may think we know them but we don't. I could only do this if I have full logs of what they're doing and blocks for intrusion but then why put myself through it. I rather help pay for the first month and set it up for them if money is the issue that will keep us on good terms but keep them out of my network.
I do feel it matters in part how well you know and trust a neighbor, but as others have pointed out there are very much risks involved. More, it may not be as easy to see what they may use there interest for and many internet providers have in place certain policies that could get you in trouble such as copyright downloads and other such things.