Many Advantages of Landlord Controlled Wi-Fi

[Davido Davido]

Landlord set up and control of the property Wi-Fi can provide many advantages, from becoming a small but steady source of extra revenue, to enhancing security (remote control and recording of gates, entries, exterior building & common area cameras); to saving time (remote entry control & rekeying of door codes); to saving money on maintenance (through instant water leak notification & advance indications of appliance malfunction); to saving both tenant and Landlord money on energy usage through remote timing and/or turn on/off all or some lights, appliances and devices;  to ensuring compliance with lease agreements (real time notice of smoking on property, excess people on property), and so much more.

Did you know that for $300 (plus installation), a landlord can install a device that will record and report in real time the energy consumption of pretty much any electrical device on the property (https://sense.com/ ) ( https://www.schneider-electric.us/en/home/smart-home/wiser/wiser-app/ ). For example with the Sense energy monitor, a landlord can tell when, if ever, and for how long, a vacuum or carpet cleaner is used, when a garbage disposal, water heater, well or septic pump runs. When the home is occupied or when it is vacant. When, if ever, almost any electrical device is used (It does take some training/set up of the software app.)

It takes some time and effort to set up a landlord controlled Single Family or Multi-Family Wi-Fi system, but once properly set up, the system can thereafter save a landlord time and effort in multiple ways. A landlord-controlled Wi-Fi system can also become another source of revenue for the landlord by simply sub-billing tenants for the landlord's cost of the Wi-Fi and adding a small ser-charge.   This sub-billing can be especially beneficial in multi family buildings and in rent by room housing situations.

It is also possible that Landlord controlled Wi-Fi can save money for tenants. A knowledgeable landlord can often find and/or negotiate a better month to month price for unlimited broadband internet service, while saving each new tenant the cost, hassle and interim downtime of acquiring new service.  And tenants can use smart home WiFi systems to inform, monitor and control their use of electricity, water and natural gas.  Monitoring can be done and changes can be made online, or on smartphones.

Landlord control of property Wi-Fi, enables monitoring of smoking, https://www.freshairsensor.com/products/ and
http://www.smokersensor.com/   You can receive automatic notice when an unusual number of people are on the property (https://www.partysquasher.com ). Landlord control of property WiFi also enables the ability to control and record property access via Wi-Fi controlled and Wi-Fi programmable entry locks, gates and driveways monitors. WiFi control permits recording security cameras outside the building (and inside common halls, storage areas etc.). You can set the timing of outside yard, perimeter and building lights, as well as control the timing of lawn and plant watering.  

Control of your Wi-Fi enables the landlord to create a direct audio and/or video intercom from your cell phone to any location on the property (similar to or with a ring doorbell). You can know and record when, for how long, and how much energy is used by the house heating system. You can automatically warn you tenants when their cooking is to smoky and when CO2 levels are rising. You know, receive notice, and automatically record every time a house smoke or CO2 alarm goes off. (https://nest.com/ )

You can also set up a network attached storage device to create tenant accessible files for your property manual, appliance manuals, how to manuals (for septic systems, wood stoves, property photos, tenant lease documents contact numbers, neighbor information, shopping info, utility info etc.) -files that you can update, change, add or delete from anywhere.  Landlord's who control the property Wi-Fi can monitor in real time the power consumption of the entire property for only  $50 to $350 plus install costs ( www.sense.com )(https://www.postscapes.com/Wi-Fi-home-energy-monitor-neurio/ ) (https://www.bluelineinnovations.com/ ). 

Alternatively, it is possible to separately monitor and accurately record in real time each individual circuits on the Property $1400 ( https://shop.dentinstruments.com/products/powerscout-12-multi-circuit-power-submeter?src=sidebar ), and or to monitor the electrical consumption of any individual appliance, outlet or switch $20+ (https://www.topgreener.com/ ).

It is also possible to use Wi-Fi to automatically and remotely turn your rental property water on/off, to monitor your properties for leaks, frozen pipes, to submeter and record water and or gas usage and know if there is a leak even before your tenants know $70 to $300 ( https://www.phyn.com/
https://getpani.com/
https://www.honeywellhome.com/en/products/water-alarms
https://try.flumetech.com/smart-home-water-monitor/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/azapps/osiris-the-65-smart-water-monitor
https://meetflo.com/
https://www.flumetech.com/

Wi-Fi Gas Meters, https://waviot.com/iot/solutions/smart-metering/smart-gas-metering
https://www.ekmmetering.com/collections/gas-meters
https://www.flonidan.com/products-and-solutions/smart-gas-meters

In my view, there are a lot of advantages to Landlord controlling and sub billing the Wi-Fi system in his/her rental units. Knowing when someone is smoking on the property is just one.

[Jeff Willis]

I have to agree with @Mitch Messer. 

You are not "big brother" and you do not want to get into that business.  Your liability exposure is enormous. If you control the WiFi you are responsible for everything that transpires through it. You do not have the protections of 47 U.S.C. § 230, since you are not an ISP.

 I personally know of a case where a person provided free WiFi to their short term rentals. He did not install the necessary digital protections.  The renters began streaming bootleg movies and music. About three months after they moved out, he received a Cease & Desist notice from RIAA (or similar) and a demand for $125,000 in as an offer for settlement for illegally streaming protected content, basically a violation of copyright without payment. He hired an attorney and settled for $10,000 and the attorney cost him $23,000. This was an expensive mistake.

Yes, you are responsible for what is streamed on a network you own, manage, and control. There are many court cases on this exact issue. Take it a step further - what about child porn?

How did they locate him? RIAA (or similar) serve a subpoena on the streamer and gets all logs, or the information is obtained via other means. The logs have IP addresses of who streamed what. That IP address will come back to your ISP (say Spectrum for example). The logs at spectrum will say the IP address was assigned to you at that particular time. And Spectrum will provide your name and other information. Naturally, all information will be provided pursuant to proper legal process.  

If you are going to provide WiFi, then you need the proper protections in place such as a commercial firewall with a content filter. You can set what can and can not be accessed. You also need to enable "guest WiFi" where the tenant must go through a "click-through" and actively agree to your terms and conditions to obtain access.

If you want to do it properly, I would look at the Ubiquity line of products. They are reasonably priced and will perform what you need. DO NOT use the crap provided by your internet provider.