Well, 'tis it or 'tain't it?

An open letter to the proprietor(s) of the Main Street Laundry at 3324 Main in Kansas City:

Sir(s) and/or Madam(s):

As one would readily expect sooner or later, it has come to our attention that there are signs proclaiming "Wi-Fi" adorning your establishment. I wish I could tell you that we were in the process of doing just the most awesome writeup we've given a newly discovered location in years.

Well, we aren't.

You see, in order for that to happen, there are certain other things that have to happen first. For one thing, we have to verify that you actually are offering wireless Internet access. The question of whether that access is free and open-and therefore eligible to be listed here-is, of course, still to be determined at that point.

That first step, however, can prove to be a bit daunting when it isn't even possible to discern which, if any, of the plethora of access points detectible on your premises is, in fact, yours. You do realize that the mere existence of an open network does not by itself constitute evidence that it is intended for use by others, don't you? Your signs merely say "Wi-Fi." They don't mention whether it's free, play-for-pay, open only to customers who obtain an access code from you, or just what. For all anyone knows, the pair of open APs with default SSIDs that were reported to us could belong to an unsuspecting apartment dweller or businessperson around the corner, and yours could be one of the encrypted ones.

As a first suggestion, why not try what we advised Latte Land to do at one of its Plaza locations, and what they are actually doing at the other-change the SSID on your router to something that will CLEARLY identify it as the one to which you intend your customers to connect? If I may be so bold, how about something like "Main Street Laundry?"

And if your Wi-Fi is free and open, why not tell everyone? Those signs in front could (ahem, ahem) use a little work.

On the other hand, if you do restrict access or if your network is play-for-pay, you really need to make that clear through signage and possibly some printed handouts. If people are coming in and inadvertently connecting to those open APs thinking they're yours, you conceivably could eventually be held accountable for aiding and abetting a crime. Can't have that, can we?

Feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me if you'd like to discuss this or have us check out the place again-which we'll be happy to do if it's free and open.