Tenant Complaining About Strength of Wi-Fi Network

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

@Anthony McEvoy, we are using a single access point to cover both units of the duplex. The AP is located in the unit belonging to the needy tenant.

I agree regarding the future of the tenant. The previous owners filled the apartment significantly below market rate, and we're actually missing out on about $5-7k/year of income due to this. We won't be extending their lease at the end of this year unless they are willing to accept a 30% increase in their rent.

Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 104 posts · 44 votes

Originally posted by @Christopher Freeman:

@Anthony McEvoy, we are using a single access point to cover both units of the duplex. The AP is located in the unit belonging to the needy tenant.

I agree regarding the future of the tenant. The previous owners filled the apartment significantly below market rate, and we're actually missing out on about $5-7k/year of income due to this. We won't be extending their lease at the end of this year unless they are willing to accept a 30% increase in their rent.

You have covered your end of the lease agreement. It does not specify how fast the speed has to be nor did it say you are providing Wi-Fi (Assuming). I don't know how it is in your market, but when landlords say they are covering internet, router or extender is not included. It just means they will pay for the bill not equipment (except modem). Also, if tenants want faster speed, they have to pay the difference.

Charlie MacPherson

China, ME · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes

@Christopher Freeman I'll humbly disagree. I don't think they're being unreasonable at all, considering that it's included in the lease.

A rough equivalent would be having the water not working in one of the bathroom sinks. You include water in the lease and it's working in the other sinks. I bet you'd fix that sink in a heartbeat.

With younger folks (and us not-so-young Realtors), internet is as critical as electricity. She already is complaining that Netflix isn't streaming properly. As you're probably discovering, there are two basic truths about Netflix. 1. It's replacing cable TV very quickly. 2. It's a bandwidth hog.

This should be a reasonably easy fix. Call the Geek Squad at Best Buy or a local computer tech. You may need no more than a cheap router/wi-fi to get a proper signal to all parts of your unit.

8 Reply

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

@Account Closed, thanks for the feedback. We have attempted to resolve their problem with additional extenders, and the internet works in the bedrooms in question as far as browsing the internet is concerned. I understand your analogy to the bathroom. Where it breaks down in my mind, however, is that a bathroom sink is designed to deliver water to said sink. Range seems like a natural limitation of Wi-Fi, and I don't see a concise limiting principle on how much coverage should be expected of me when I have a payment-only obligation. Should they be able to watch Netflix on the toilet, or in the back yard? It seems like a big leap between paying for the subscription and investing in enterprise-style infrastructure that supports multiple overlapping wireless access points.

We are trying to train this tenant to be more independent. If something legitimately breaks, we'll take care of it, but this is one of those "Help, a lightbulb burned out!" kind of tenants.

4 Reply

Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 104 posts · 44 votes

Originally posted by @Christopher Freeman:

@Account Closed, you're correct. The lease reads: "Services: Water, Electricity, Heating Oil (up to 1,100 gallons), internet."

This market has a lot of student rentals, and the local ISP (Spectrum) includes Wi-Fi equipped modems with all their service subscriptions, so it is "normal" for "internet" to entail Wi-Fi; however, our lease does not require that we do anything other than pay the bill.

@Charlie MacPherson, thanks for the feedback. We have attempted to resolve their problem with additional extenders, and the internet works in the bedrooms in question as far as browsing the internet is concerned. I understand your analogy to the bathroom. Where it breaks down in my mind, however, is that a bathroom sink is designed to deliver water to said sink. Range seems like a natural limitation of Wi-Fi, and I don't see a concise limiting principle on how much coverage should be expected of me when I have a payment-only obligation. Should they be able to watch Netflix on the toilet, or in the back yard? It seems like a big leap between paying for the subscription and investing in enterprise-style infrastructure that supports multiple overlapping wireless access points.

We are trying to train this tenant to be more independent. If something legitimately breaks, we'll take care of it, but this is one of those "Help, a lightbulb burned out!" kind of tenants.

Gotcha, quick question; what is the speed of the internet you are providing them?

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

@Account Closed, 100 mbit, which I believe is the fastest option in our area unless you purchase an enterprise subscription. Actual service at the box is usually much less than that, and it is rather slow at the extremities of the house, even with the Wi-Fi extender, but my business partner was able to browse the internet on all 3 site visits and watched the tenant do the same.

Our city is still relatively rural. Most of the surrounding areas only get 7 mbit.

Charlie MacPherson

China, ME · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes

@Christopher Freeman If browsing works in the bedrooms but Netflix isn't streaming properly, it sounds like your (her) problem is bandwidth, not signal strength or range.

You might call Spectrum and see if they have a solution. It might be that they have a higher bandwidth option that's another $5.00 per month, which would probably be worth paying for. If it's much more than that, I'd ask her to pay for at least part of it, if not all.

Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 104 posts · 44 votes

Originally posted by @Christopher Freeman:

@Account Closed, 100 mbit, which I believe is the fastest option in our area unless you purchase an enterprise subscription. Actual service at the box is usually much less than that, and it is rather slow at the extremities of the house, even with the Wi-Fi extender, but my business partner was able to browse the internet on all 3 site visits and watched the tenant do the same.

Ok, most people are not familiar, but the "speed" is technically bandwidth. If your tenant is watching Netflix or YouTube in Ultra HD (which my fiance does only), it takes 25 Mbps. If you have two tenants watching YouTube and Netflix at the same time, that's 50 Mbps. That is not adding their cell phone connection, tablets, smart TV and all the other crap that have which can easily bust thru 100 Mbps.

Just my fiance watching netflix and myself running my stock market programs at the same time are hitting about 60 mbps and I try not to connect my other devices to the Wi-Fi.

She is probably complaining due to the fact that when bandwidth hits their max, they start slowing down the device that is sucking it all up, which will probably be her Netflix. I would honestly tell her if she wants faster speed, she would have to pay extra.

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

@Ezekiel Racelis, the speedtest in her room was only a few mbit, so maybe it's a combination of things?

Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 104 posts · 44 votes

Originally posted by @Christopher Freeman:

@Ezekiel Racelis, the speedtest in her room was only a few mbit, so maybe it's a combination of things?

It could be, but highly unlikely if you installed an extender. Unless she has her device surrounded by cement or metal walls, there shouldn't be an issue. Her equipment can also be the issue. The best option if you don't want to increase the rent would be to have her do a hard wire straight from modem, but if it really was due to the fact that she is hogging bandwidth, your other tenant will start to complain because what ever is hard wired to the modem will take priority over anything else. Meaning he might even get disconnected from the internet because she is using all of it up.

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

@Ezekiel Racelis, no cement or metal, just a stairwell and a closet. The extender is located 30-40 feet from the main access point, and I think it almost has a line of sight. If not, then max obstruction would be two wall corners and a refrigerator. In my own house, my one access point is under the basement stairs and out travels through the floors, kitchen countertops, and sometimes even the exterior walls.

Rental Property Investor · Member since 2018 · 104 posts · 44 votes

Originally posted by @Christopher Freeman:

@Ezekiel Racelis, no cement or metal, just a stairwell and a closet. The extender is located 30-40 feet from the main access point, and I think it almost has a line of sight. If not, then max obstruction would be two wall corners and a refrigerator. In my own house, my one access point is under the basement stairs and out travels through the floors, kitchen countertops, and sometimes even the exterior walls.

If that is the case, it's probably her equipment. Either it needs to get updated or replaced. But you are not part of the Geek Squad so that shouldn't be your concern. You have provided internet and it works properly. If you still want to try to be nice, I would connect your own equipment that you know runs good and perform a speed test in the exact same area that her device is at. If it's faster or whatever, then tell her to have her device checked. If it's not, you tried your best and hopefully have the receipt for the extender to prove to court that you tried to go out of your way to provide something that is not in the lease agreement (should it get that far).

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

@Ezekiel Racelis, the speedtest was done on a phone that we own, and we bought the extender on Amazon, so it sounds like we're covered :) Thanks for your help!

Max T.

Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes

I would remove the internet once it comes up for renewal.

When I was in college I pirated movies, music... It was the napster era.

But laws and enforcement have caught up. I wouldn't want college students using internet attached to my name.

6 Reply

Ryan Evans

Rental Property Investor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 653 posts · 769 votes

I'm not sure how to do this from a technical standpoint, but you also can add a second router on the same plan. This happens all the time in large houses. It may vary by provider, though. It'll involve running another coax cable. Or you could also just buy an ethernet cable for her smart tv for $3. Not an ideal solution, but if it makes the problem go away...

Hai Loc

Specialist · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 891 votes

@Christopher Freeman You put yourself in a bad position. I would never provide wifi on a lease unless I knew it was sufficient speed and I will actually be making some kinda service fee on top of it.. for example I can get 1Gig of speed for $100 a month. If I had a 4 Plex with 2 beds each and a combined 8 students i would charge $15 a month which would be $120 total and splitting 1Gig of speed should be more than sufficient. So for the extra $20 a month I would have to invest into wifi extenders but end of the day I will be gaining.. You probably need to boost your speed

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

@Hai Loc, these were inherited tenants and leases. I don't believe there is a higher speed class in our city.

Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2018 · 129 posts · 163 votes

@Hai Loc It has nothing to do with speed in some cases. Your connection to the ISP can be 1TB/Sec but if you have too many or too little or the wrong type of local infrastructure (Wireless access points), then it won’t matter. I would suggest as Ryan stated to simply have the provider run another coax cable via splitter from the main connection point and drop in another router/WAP. Make sure to avoid any potential channel conflict. So - in other words ask the provider to do it if you are not in IT or tech as your day job.

4 Reply

Jim K.

Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes

@Christopher Freeman

@Account Closed has the simplest solution. Look forward. This problem is not going to get better. In the future, your tenants will want more and more, better and better web access. Get ahead of the problem and stay ahead of it.

2 Reply

Brian Flannery

Rental Property Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2018 · 18 posts · 8 votes

@Christopher Freeman I just moved my daughter into her apartment for college and Internet is provided. There is a router in her apartment, but it is on the resident to provide a WiFi router if that’s what they desire. I say all that to tell you I also feel you’ve gone above and beyond to please this tenant.

2 Reply

Donna Thurman

Realtor · Miami, FL · Member since 2018 · 19 posts · 12 votes

Being a Realtor and a Property Manager for over 30 years, and the need for the internet we all have, but if your TENANT is having problems with her accessibility to Netflix, this is not your problem as a landlord, you have provided the service and have made sure that the service works on multiple occasions, if she needs something else stronger then I would suggest you let her and her helicopter father know that you have complied with the lease and if they feel the need for additional technology to access what she needs then they can call the Geek Squad and get a booster.

James Wise

Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 31k+ posts · 20k+ votes

Originally posted by @Christopher Freeman:

Hi all,

We have some college student tenants whom we inherited from the previous owner. Most of them are fine, but one of them is very needy. The legacy lease provides internet, which we have provided and which works in the common areas of her unit, and which also works in two remote bedrooms (albeit not at lightning speeds) via a Wi-Fi extender that we provided as a courtesy.

My business partner has tested the Wi-Fi in her bedroom three times, and has been able to connect and load webpages. He also watched the tenant connect and load webpages. My understanding is that she is not able to stream Netflix on her smart TV. She's complained to her father, who is a co-signer on her lease, and he has gone into helicopter parent mode harassing us to "fix" the problem. Based on the content of his messages, we have learned that the tenant is feeding him misleading information about her complaint (we believe that she is trying to avoid taking responsibility for the fact that her complaint does not pertain to her ability to do schoolwork as she has maintained, but rather to watch Netflix).

The lease states that landlord provides internet. It does not state that we provide Wi-Fi, or guarantee coverage in all areas of the apartment. We aren't trying to screw anyone on technicalities, but we've already provided a free extender, and offered to give the tenant a $50 credit towards purchasing her own extender if she feels that would help. I believe that we met the requirements of the lease when we made internet available within the unit, and exceeded it when we provided the extender and offered to help them buy additional equipment.

I don't want to train the tenant to expect technical support on her devices from us, and I also don't want to spend the next three months test driving equipment and configuring tenant devices on the network. In my last email, I told the tenant's father the the technical support he is requesting is beyond our expertise, the scope of our business, and the requirements of the lease.

Based on this background, do you feel we are being reasonable? How would you have handled this situation, and is there anything we might do differently in the future to help manage tenant's expectations from the get go?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

You do not need to please everyone. You've done what you are required to do and then some. This girl sounds like shes more trouble than she is worth. You should change your thinking a bit. Start looking at your tenants as your employees instead of your customers. Would you tolerate this crap from an employee? Probably not, you'd have fired him/her by now.

Simply tell the tenant & her dad it is what it is and you will no longer discuss the matter with them further. If you are tired of dealing with them you can offer her the option to move out penalty free, or you could just stone wall her and keep on collecting her rent. You are her landlord, not the concierge at a 5 star hotel.

4 Reply

OP

Rental Property Investor · Keene, NH · Member since 2018 · 115 posts · 73 votes

This was the email that I sent. For context, in a previous email from ChopperDad, he had attempted to construe the individual nature of her lease as meaning that her room comprised the premises of her rental, rather than the entire unit. We're working really hard here to remain professional and helpful in spite of the bad attitude and sense of entitlement we're facing.

6 Reply

Krishna Chava

Specialist · Carrollton, TX · Member since 2016 · 145 posts · 100 votes