Caregiver asked for my WiFi password. Why would she ask if she is watching my parents and isn't this a security concern?

Our private home WiFi account is just that, private. She is out of line. Maybe a more casual employer gave her theirs but she has no right to it.

My daughter cannot afford WiFi in her house (she’s a minimalist who keeps her life simple). My husband added her to OUR WiFi, and she can go online at our house. She’s come over after we’ve gone to bed and sits on our patio or in her vehicle and goes online. We put her on our Netflix account as a family member. She’s the ONLY person we’d give our number to.

There are bound books to read (I buy actual books for my daughter), painting with oil, embroidery and hand sewing, decorating with flower boxes, all sorts of things to do while the elderly nap. My daughter is hyperactive so she stays busy.

Tell caregiver that you feel that your number is private and if she gets angry she isn’t the caregiver for your family.

But as I understand it, and I again acknowledge that I am no authority, using the WiFi connection simply enables a person to use their *own* account. It's pretty much the same as plugging in a charger or using the 'phone, except that - unless you have limited bandwidth and she's streaming videos or something - it doesn't cost anything.

Deny her the connection and it means she can't pick up or respond to messages, and if she has other clients these may be urgent. I don't think it's a reasonable condition to impose on a professional caregiver - assuming, again, that she is not misusing her time.

I assume the caregiver is using her own tablet, right? So as CM points out all she is using is your bandwidth.... I really don't understand the comments that even asking is hugely out of line😕

And if you want to go techie then there are ways to set up guest access to your WiFi, even to your computer if you needed to give them access to that (though personally I would draw the line there).

I am also not tech savvy but when i visit my dsughter she shares the password for her network (not her account) and then I can log on a guest and from there on in i am using my own account protected by it's own password. She also has clients who can use it too with no problem. Once I am logged on each time I visit my computer automatically recognises where I am and invites me to sign on as a guest.
I see two problems with this and the password is not one of them.
1.There should be other tasks to do that are associated with the patients ie laundry, cooking and keeping their area clean and tidy.
2. Internet access is not necessary for a caregiver to recieve messages. She can be called on her own phone or your house phone.

In principle it is no different than reading a book or some hobby as long as she can immediately respond to her patients. Better than sleeping on the job.

Your internet service provider may have an app that allows you to add her as a user and limit the sites that she can access. I use a google device for our in home wifi and use this for my kids. So, if bandwidth is an issue, then no video streaming will be allowed, but Facebook or general surfing would be allowed.

I would not give her your password. If she is taking care of your parents and needs to relax surfing the web then she should find other ways to occupy her time.

Tes

Set up guest access to your wifi. Never give out your real password. Make sure she can’t get to any shared devices. The wifi router software should allow you to do this in the configuration section, probably under security. My family has the real one, but I’d never give out the real one to anyone else.

Many people find it hard to focus on the internet AND keep an ear open for something else like caregiving. (I know someone like that..:) I'm not sure about the possible liability issue. Whatever you do, set up the rules before you let the caregiver use the internet. Tough to change later....like texting while driving.

My cellphone uses WiFi calling first if it's available and the calls are much better than when using a cell tower. It is especially important to connect to a WiFi if there is limited cell tower access. So I always ask for the password if I see there's WiFi available.

I agree that giving the caregiver your wifi password isn’t a big deal. She is good, so do what you can to keep her. Trust me, it is NOT easy to find a good caregiver or one that you or your parents can bond. Also, you are already paying for the wifi, so it is not like you are paying something extra for her to use.

I also agree that you may want to let him/her know that the wifi is not for porn or criminal activity or selling/buying stuff on Ebay.

This is not something you should fret over. Surely you have other things to worry about. 😁

She likely wants to use the Wi-Fi for her cell phone so she does not have two exhaust her data package while your house. Having access to the Wi-Fi does NOT give her access to your personal computers any more than a workplace with Wi-Fi would give access to all of their the computers. Rather than making assumptions, why don't you ask her exactly why she wants to use your Wi-Fi?

she more & likely need it for cell phone to go on internet without paying or using minutes ..but she is there for you & your needs so you tell her that & if she has a problem you can report her or get someone else ..your wifi password is only good around your house but if they get a good enough signal they could do what ever they want from the street or in drive way ..like i said she is to work for you & your benefit .!!!!

You can always enter your WIFI password into her device yourself! That way she doesn’t know the password, but still has access without using her own data. Unless you have concerns with the level of care she is providing, I wouldn’t worry. Just something for her to do while your parents are resting. If you want her to do chores, there might be a cost increase.

Hi there!

A dilemma...and I haven’t read every response so excuse me if mine has been posted a few times. I’d be concerned because as Tech mentioned, wherever your carer goes or dors online could be your responsibility. I have no idea if there is some sort of “at your own risk” type document your carer could sign but, perhaps you might have a very frank conversation about your concerns. That would be my only worry. As others have said, there really isn’t anything (other than the liability issue) wrong with your carer going online providing she drop everything when needed.

Anyone visiting my home for a few hours I offer my password to them. I have had no problem with it. My friends have it and I have their's. I also have a camera in my living room where my Mother's hospital bed is located and all care is given. None of our nurses or caregivers have abused phone use while taking care of Mom. If Mom's needs we're being ignored, they would be shown the door quickly. Fortunately, we were blessed with caring & responsible caregivers. Give her the password & set boundaries if you feel he/she needs them or it makes you feel better.

Anyone in security would say no. HOWEVER, you can and should create a guest password for her use and be sure it is not like your password. Also, be sure your WIFI password is not like any other passwords you use for other websites. You can’t be too cautious now days.
Actually data use from a mobile internet provider is pretty much unlimited these days unless she has an el cheap type of account. So needing WiFi is a moot point unless you are live streaming data or watching videos or movies.
If your LO is sleeping, then yes, why not let her use internet? I see it’s no different than reading a paperback. But use a guest password

As a nurse, there are times that i use the internet to find answers to treatments, medications, spelling and other medical things. Just because she asks for the password doesn’t mean it’s for other things necessarily.

Most people with smart phones still can get on the internet without WiFi. They just use their data. I see no harm in giving them a password. They are professional people.

We often have overnight guests, whether it is family or friends. We have two passwords on our router. One is given to guests and one is ours. The guest password does not give access to any of our information. I think all routers are set up this way.

No no no no no!!...
For all of you who would do this: Why do you even have a password-protected network?
For all those reasons, don't give your password to anyone you don't trust with anything on your network.
Do you use public Wi-Fi to do your banking? Why not?
If you give your Wi-Fi password to anyone, what's to prevent her from giving it to her boyfriend, her kids, or anyone who steals her cell phone? You just made your private network public.

What is the purpose of the Caregiver being in the home? To care for the consumer or surf the web? Does she work for an agency? Most agencies have policies against aides using their cell phones while on duty. Is there a written care plan in place? This would lay out what tasks the care giver is expected to complete while in the home. Yes the worker should be allowed a break if they are there for several hours and during that time they can do what they want, but if you are paying them to work they should be working. My employer does not allow employees’ access to the Wi-Fi while at work and if I use my phone to access the internet during my breaks or lunch time it is on my own data plan. The caregiver is your employee not a visiting friend.

No you didn't.

Not unless you've got the world's most powerful WiFi hub, anyway, or you're inviting all these people into the house.

We are talking about the wireless network connection that makes the internet available within your home. Like the house wiring. It's not about giving anyone the password to your accounts, it's about their being able to use their *own* accounts in your house.

Without thinking too hard, here are some of the things I would have done online while I was caring for my mother...

Finding patient information leaflets for a px'd medication
Ordering groceries
Ordering continence care products
Assisting with choosing grandchildren's birthday presents
Looking up the right plant for a bare patch in the flower bed
Confirming a doctor's appointment time
Checking routes to a hospital
Getting an accurate weather forecast
Researching family trees
Looking up hair washing techniques for people with limited mobility

Isn't the internet wonderful?

I am sorry if I am wrong, but I would not give a caregiver your password. If she has down time and a lot of it have her do some extra cleaning. Food prepping. She can read a book. Also a chromebook is under $200, have her buy one. If you feel safe with her and like how she works, maybe you could buy her one and then take so much weekly out of her pay. But I would insist the chromebook stays at your place until fully paid for. I would not even ask to borrow a family member's computer, I think it is personal.

I always gave the wifi password out.. mostly to the night caregivers. My parents lived in a small apartment and I would prefer the night shift to stay awake and use their tablet or laptop or phone.. and not watch the tv as that would wake my parents up.

You could only access the wifi if you were in their apartment or within a few feet of their apartment.. you could get a weak signal... so you would have to be in their apartment to benefit from it much.

I suppose there are drawbacks to this.. but it worked out during the time I had to have caregivers to allow them to stay in their apartment.

This takes me back to the far-off days when I was my Dad's first line tech support geek... He was 68 and typed with one finger, I knew how to send an email but I hadn't yet come across Alt-Ctrl-Del... You can just imagine what fun we had during those long, long phone calls.

The WiFi password is the access code you will find on the back of your home hub. Your home hub is the box of tricks which handles your broadband connection. To go online, unless you have some other arrangement with your provider, you sign in to this Local Area Network.

This does not give you access to anybody else's smartphone or computer, it is not a password to any private accounts, it just allows you to connect your own device to get online.

I agree. don't give out the password. As other members have mentioned it could be shared by other people she knows, or even her inviting them over to the home without your knowledge so they can use the service.

Giving the WiFi password away effectively gives full access to the local network. From there the guest might access the other computers inside the same network unless they have an additional protection. The guest can also try to brute force the router password, can mount man in the middle attacks with ARP or DHCP spoofing ....

Because of this better routers offer a separate guest WiFi with its own password and with a restricted environment where the user can only access the internet but not the internal network.

I have a home care agency and on the handbook for my employees, I have a rule that they can't be on the phone (calling or surfing the internet) while on the job. However, if I have a job that requires the caregiver to be there for a long period of time (over 5 hours), then I would discuss the issue of using internet, phone, tv with the family. If they have Wi-Fi in the house then I would discuss that as well. The caregiver was nice enough to ask you for the Wi-Fi password, if you say no, then I do not think it is the end of the world. She will have to do with the minutes she has on her plan. If you notice that she spends too much time on her phone, bring it up to her employer. If you have hired her privately, then find someone else or make it clear that you do not want her to spend anytime on her phone or the internet. Set up boundaries in advance. That is what we do as employers. Hope this help.