Illegal to use a router in shared accommodation?

[Foebane]

Let me describe the situation:

I have a 2Mb Broadband connection from VM, but am sharing it with at least two other (totally unrelated) people in the house who pay me a third of the broadband charge levied at me by VM. This is made possible by a wi-fi router, and the other two people get a wi-fi signal whilst I get a direct connection.

The question is: should I do this, even though there's no other way around it because of a single cable coming into the house, or is it OK to do this?

I just don't want VM to find out this has been happening and close down my service.

[Spacecat]

no way to prove it that i can see.

many people have multiple computers attached to routers what all the family use.

unless you tell em how would they know otherwise.

I suspect loads of people,are doing just this

[Foebane]

The thing is, I've recently given VM 30 days notice to cancel my phone and TV, and an engineer will soon come round to collect the STB. He'll know when he sees the router, won't he?

So the best thing I can think of is to hide the router shortly before he comes and pretend it's just me using the BB, and then reconnect it all up again after he leaves.

[markymark34]

i think your being concerned about nothing.
I have an xbox, 2 laptops and a pc connected to my router, what difference does it make if they are family or friends?

VM will even give you a router if you ask (they may have stopped doing this now)

Mark

[Dazo]

Let me describe the situation:

I have a 2Mb Broadband connection from VM, but am sharing it with at least two other (totally unrelated) people in the house who pay me a third of the broadband charge levied at me by VM. This is made possible by a wi-fi router, and the other two people get a wi-fi signal whilst I get a direct connection.

The question is: should I do this, even though there's no other way around it because of a single cable coming into the house, or is it OK to do this?

I just don't want VM to find out this has been happening and close down my service.

Absolutely nothing wrong with what you are doing. 1 house, 1 connection and the people in that house all sharing that connection. Exactly what broadband is for. If you were sharing with a neighbour then that would be a different story.

[Yokomo]

4 of us shared a wired network at our uni house from an NTL box. Back in those days (3 yrs ago) you were supposed to buy a multi-connection tariff. But we didnt bother - never had any issues with NTL or the connections.

[GrahamC]

The only thing that I can think that they will object to is the fact that your flatmates paying you part of the subscription, as you are in effect reselling the package. What the will happen if they find out is anybodys guess but how will they find out unless you tell them.

[KevinPedrick]

I did this for years while I was a student / young professional sharing.

Virgin won't care so long as they get their cash each month ;)

[Foebane]

But what if the engineer does spot the router and object to it, saying stuff like "the other people should get their own VM accounts", etc? And reporting back to VM? The engineer might be one of those cranky types.

[gazbarber]

Don't worry about it, its perfectly normal what your doing and using the router could be for your own wireless access as well as anyone else who might just have access to it.

A few years back they wanted to charge people for more than one person using a connection but there was never anyway to enforce it (as a router with 10 people still looks like 1 connection to the outside world i.e. 1 external ip address) and its totaly unfair to dictate to you these sort of conditions.

[def]

But what if the engineer does spot the router and object to it, saying stuff like "the other people should get their own VM accounts", etc? And reporting back to VM? The engineer might be one of those cranky types.

I think you'll be lucky if you get an "engineer" who can spot a computer at 20 paces, let alone realise you've got a network going on...

[ChrisWV10]

You won't have a problem, Virgin allow multiple access through a router see here. (http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/faqs/multiconn.html)

As for your housemates paying you - you're just sharing the bill! Nowt wrong with that!:)

[hornydragon]

The thing is, I've recently given VM 30 days notice to cancel my phone and TV, and an engineer will soon come round to collect the STB. He'll know when he sees the router, won't he?

So the best thing I can think of is to hide the router shortly before he comes and pretend it's just me using the BB, and then reconnect it all up again after he leaves.

Just cause you have a wireless router doest mean your going to get into trouble

[bjjgann]

The only concern I would have is if one of them does something naughty with your connection.

[andycorleone]

I recomend you to have some kind of encryption in the wireless router :lesson:

[Badger0-0]

Yep, there's nothing wrong with you using a router, they just won't help you if you get a problem.

Far too much trouble for the engineers :)
and to be fair, it's outside their scope :smashin:

[gazbarber]

To get to the bottom of this, it aint illegal, nothing gonna happen and shareing a connection and the bill is as common as sharing the electricity or gas or water or tv licence ... i.e. any utility.

[Foebane]

OK, thanks guys for the advice, I'll leave it where it is and when the engineer comes I'll see if he even notices it. :)

[splatz]

You are worrying about nothing. What you are paying for is for a broadband service to be delivered to a broadband modem. The Broadband modem is connected to your network. What you have on your network is your business - not theirs.

So no worries! :thumbsup:

[DGP999]

While my grandaughter was at uni, she and some flatmates had a wireless router installed by an NTL engineer and he made sure that they all had connections that worked. There was only the normal BB charge which the flatmates shared.