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Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by jgaudette on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @05:52PM (#24217132)
Hi there! At a basic level yes you are absolutely right. The wood however has to be rough cut, assembled with the NFC tag, precision cut, routed multiple times, sanded, laser engraved, and then have multiple coats of acrylic sealant applied to it. Not bad for only $40?

We hope that others will find a custom designed Wifi Block sitting on their shelf a lot more appealing than a printed QR code with a sticker on it, but only time will tell!

Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by ikornaselur on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @06:01PM (#24217232)
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a quality product that you provide (I'm assuming you're affiliated with this). I just don't remember the last time I had to give anyone access to my WiFi (everyone's just on mobile these days), and when it has been required it's usually for laptops (which couldn't use this.. Nor a QR code for that matter)

Maybe other people would find better use for this, but for the past years I've just set my WiFi password to something I remember and in the rare cases people want to connect, I just tell them the password.

The WiFi block looks nice though!

Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by jgaudette on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @06:11PM (#24217347)
Thanks!!!

The most cases we find that the average people run into issues with mobile is in bad connection areas or when staying at one place for a while (staying over with friends or family, or at a party, etc).

A big use case as well is airbnb's and home rentals. One of the first things that you want when entering a rental is free wifi!

Thanks again for the feedback!

Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by macNchz on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @07:03PM (#24217891)
Yeah I'd love if airbnbs had these. I tend to rent places in mountainy areas with bad cell service. It feels like 90% of the time we arrive bleary-eyed from a long drive, needing to look up a place to get dinner, only to find the welcome packet which has a handwritten password like "FJ#)@Jkfsf2JBbnNVnIOfQPOWre230F(&J%^". Minor annoyance, but a bother all the same. I always type it out in the Notes app first to make it easier to fix typos.
Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by prepend on Thursday August 20, 2020 @07:38AM (#24222178)
I’ve rented many an Airbnb where that long password is scratched out and it looks like a previous guest has written in “torpedo” or something much easier to type.

I guess the upside of default router passwords is that it allows friendly “hackers” to help.

Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by ta17711771 on Thursday August 20, 2020 @10:12AM (#24223438)
Friendly hackers should know better than to leave a trivially crackable passphrase for an easily captured network.
Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by prepend on Thursday August 20, 2020 @09:36PM (#24231061)
It’s a cabin in the woods with free WiFi. The risk of someone cracking that is lower than the risk of someone breaking in and reading the password on the fridge.
Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by ta17711771 on Friday August 21, 2020 @12:43AM (#24232048)
Missed that, good call!
Re:Show HN: The Wifi Block – Let your guests connect to WiFi... by bb88 on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @07:25PM (#24218035)
So, how about a $4 or $5 version which is the size of a coaster and only has the wifi symbol on it? You could have them manufactured in china by the thousands for a few pennies apiece.