Has anyone tried to monetize their internet connection?

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cbags101

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Nov 26, 2006
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Just curious if any of you have or have heard of people monetizing their internet connections. Much like the way a coffee shop would monetize with ad networks. Since I live in an apartment building, there's a possibility of multiple people connecting to a security-free WAP.

My ideas were to set up a second wireless router in my apartment with custom firmware and limit it's bandwidth usage (the first router would be for security enabled for personal use). Disable a file sharing services like p2p and bittorrent. Forward anyone who goes to google.com, amazon.com, etc. to the same page with my affiliate id embedded so that I make money off of purchases and searches. No harm to them and I make money off of the bandwidth I'm not using anyways.

If I've got the hardware already, why not do it? I just need someone to bounce the idea off of.
 
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charging for a service=supporting your end users.

Have fun when they are calling & bugging you about speeds, loss of connectivity, etc, The amount of money you collect isnt probably going to be worth the hassle. And since you have to live around these people, that means you have to be extra nice or end up with flat tires.
 
K1llaB said:
charging for a service=supporting your end users.

Have fun when they are calling & bugging you about speeds, loss of connectivity, etc, The amount of money you collect isnt probably going to be worth the hassle. And since you have to live around these people, that means you have to be extra nice or end up with flat tires.
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you're missing the point. I'm not charging for use. I'm using unobtrusive means of monetizing. To the person connecting, they just think they are leeching wifi and none-the-wiser that I am making money.
 
cbags101 said:
you're missing the point. I'm not charging for use. I'm using unobtrusive means of monetizing. To the person connecting, they just think they are leeching wifi and none-the-wiser that I am making money.
Click to expand...

You mean like inserting all your own ad's instead of the ones that are supposed to show up on a page? Ya, you might make some money doing that. Seem like a ton of work for a few cents a click, and of course if someone browses child porn, it's going to show coming from you IP address and you are going to get raped in prison..


But other then that, sound like an awesome idea.
 
Hmm that could be interesting. Add some basic web filtering, some tracking, and put it on a separate network and call it "freewifi" or something to that extent.
 
Not a bad idea, what are you going to use for embbeding the affiliate id?
 
Red Squirrel said:
Hmm that could be interesting. Add some basic web filtering, some tracking, and put it on a separate network and call it "freewifi" or something to that extent.
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^ this is pretty slick, if i lived in a big apartment building id do this.
 
Pretty sure it's frowned upon to do hidden embedded stuff like that.

I remember a few years back it was popular to edit php proxy scripts to rewrite all proxied Google Adsense scripts with your own Adsense ID. I believe the banned all the big operations.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Hmm that could be interesting. Add some basic web filtering, some tracking, and put it on a separate network and call it "freewifi" or something to that extent.
Click to expand...

exactly, you get the idea.

tgray96 said:
Not a bad idea, what are you going to use for embbeding the affiliate id?
Click to expand...

I could use dyndns for the dns server and when someone types in amazon.com in their address bar, have it send them to amazon.com/affiliate-id. Basically.

I wouldn't do google adsense. they would catch on pretty fast and I would get banned.
 
If rewriting is considered against google/other network's TOS, another possibility might be to add a header over each site. Something like "welcome to freewifi" with an ad or something.

Though, you also have to consider, how many people are actually going to use this, and is it going to actually make a difference?

I get about 200k page views per month on my site with google adsense and make about $100 every 3 months, so is 4-6 people really going to do anything? Guess it does not hurt to try though.

Another option is get a high gain antenna (would need to research FCC rules to ensure you don't overpower it) and then it might be able to span a couple miles. People just need to use directional antenna's to get better speed.
 
Red Squirrel said:
If rewriting is considered against google/other network's TOS, another possibility might be to add a header over each site. Something like "welcome to freewifi" with an ad or something.

Though, you also have to consider, how many people are actually going to use this, and is it going to actually make a difference?

I get about 200k page views per month on my site with google adsense and make about $100 every 3 months, so is 4-6 people really going to do anything? Guess it does not hurt to try though.

Another option is get a high gain antenna (would need to research FCC rules to ensure you don't overpower it) and then it might be able to span a couple miles. People just need to use directional antenna's to get better speed.
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yeah, that was my train of thought. i might as well try it out and monitor the traffic and see how many people connect. seriously, if it subsidizes the cost of my connection by a few bucks/month. why not?

I think i've decided that I would only use sites that offer purchase affiliate programs, so that I could probably cover a high percentage of all online purchases made through my connection.

also, pm'd you about your site's traffic.
 
college kids :
"free untrackable internet"
"Now can start downloading songs, videos and gay porn"
fires up utorrent
your connection starts gasping for breath
good luck with that
 
jiminator said:
college kids :
"free untrackable internet"
"Now can start downloading songs, videos and gay porn"
fires up utorrent
your connection starts gasping for breath
good luck with that
Click to expand...

Maybe you missed the part where he said

cbags101 said:
Just curious if any of you have or have heard of people monetizing their internet connections. Much like the way a coffee shop would monetize with ad networks. Since I live in an apartment building, there's a possibility of multiple people connecting to a security-free WAP.

My ideas were to set up a second wireless router in my apartment with custom firmware and limit it's bandwidth usage (the first router would be for security enabled for personal use). Disable file sharing services like p2p and bittorrent. Forward anyone who goes to google.com, amazon.com, etc. to the same page with my affiliate id embedded so that I make money off of purchases and searches. No harm to them and I make money off of the bandwidth I'm not using anyways.

If I've got the hardware already, why not do it? I just need someone to bounce the idea off of.
Click to expand...
 
jiminator said:
college kids :
"free untrackable internet"
"Now can start downloading songs, videos and gay porn"
fires up utorrent
your connection starts gasping for breath
good luck with that
Click to expand...

You can block all that as long as you aren't using the $19.99 Walmart router.

I would worry about compromised personal info if online shopping. You're the first door they'll beat down.
 
delvryboy said:
I would worry about compromised personal info if online shopping. You're the first door they'll beat down.
Click to expand...

Yeah. the only way that would be possible is if someone else was sniffing the traffic and pulling that data somehow, but there's no way for me to do that just by referring the sale with my affiliate account.

I can only see item's purchased usually, no personal info.
 
Its up to people to only shop on SSL sites, but guess in the states you can sue for anything, so you could probably be sued or w/e anyway. Wonder if you would be safe if you have some kind of captive portal with a liability clause they have to agree to before the surf.
 
If you are really serious about this, why don't you look at DD-WRT and check out their hotspot portals....
 
Besides everything else this probably against the terms of service on your home DSL/cable/whatever account.
 
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