Free WiFi may be good for consumers, but apparently it’s bad for business.
On Monday the New York Times reported that cafe owners have found that their profits go up when their WiFi goes down.
What happens is that hoards of laptop owners flood the cafe, some taking up a table that could seat four, leaving little room for patrons who just want a good cup of joe. And because it says “Free WiFi” many feel they don’t need to buy anything at all!
When the cafe owners decided to bring down the WiFi on the weekends, their weekend revenues went back up.
Beyond profits, the owners feel the laptoppers ruin the culture of the tiny coffee shop - all you hear is “click click click” instead of the low and pleasant hum of conversation.
I know when I go into a free WiFi cafe I order at least one drink but sometimes I sit there for hours reading and writing. But this is mostly during the winter. During the summer I’ll sit on a bench outside and pick up the free WiFi without a purchase.
I’m a bad person 
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I was at a coffeehouse in Seattle (what, you say! a coffeehouse in Seattle?!) last weekend, mostly for the free WiFi, but also for a drink. They were smart and encrypted their WiFi and you got the password on the receipt
Smart thinking! But yes, I think it’s a good point. Whenever I go to the Starbucks at GWU’s Gelman library, I try to sit closer to the library side so I can pick up the free library WiFi instead of paying for the Starbucks T-Mobile service!
Yeah I totally do the same thing! A password on the receipt is brilliant!
Well I can realte to Gaurag, because as you know Justin…I live in Seattle…and count on the home of Starbucks and Microsoft to come up with encrytption on the receipts…As a new laptop owner…I just know that I want to sit anywhere and talk to friends…so the click click click is what I want to hear when I go to a coffee shop now…and I want to be there with Justin…LOL
I wonder if this is a problem in places where they’ve introduced city-wide WiFi? It seems as though once you could access a wireless network anywhere, the need to hoarde coffee tables would be eliminated.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4700256