Get yer' own, mister!

November 28, 2006 9:27 AM

I need some valid reasons for a (business) subtenant to get his own DSL service instead of sharing ours. Besides the fact that we're not 23 year old singles sharing a flat.

The branch office has some vacant space, and the head there has found a subtenant who will rent it from us.

But he seems to have found a very cheap subtenant, because since we let him share DSL for a few days to get set up, he doesn't see a reason why he should get his own line.

Even more disappointing is that the head there seems to be apologising about this, instead of telling the subtenant to grow up and get his own resources for his own business.

So now I've been tasked with providing the head with a list of concrete reasons why not to share our DSL line with a separate enterprise.

Bring on your liability/security/worst case scenario stories.

Oh, P.S. We've got a single fixed IP, so he'd have to go through our router as well.

posted by bartleby to computers & internet (14 comments total)

I'm sure others have lots of scary tech stories to relate, but I'd start by looking at your user agreement with your DSL provider. They may forbid a sharing arrangement.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:34 AM on November 28, 2006

If he is going through your connection and does something that warrants legal investigation, then your records, computers, etc would almost certainly subpoenaed.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:42 AM on November 28, 2006

You've absolutely got shared liability issues. Jac's right - it's unlikely your ISP would approve of this in the slightest. You've got issues with spreading the bandwidth to thin. You've got "hey prick that's not your line" issues. If you welcomed him to the office with a bag of chips, would that obligate you to buy him lunch every day?

If he's going through your router, unplug his damn cable. Block his damn port. That's not his!
posted by EatTheWeak at 9:45 AM on November 28, 2006

yeah... don't want the cheapo looking at kiddie porn and having the authorities seize your equipment as well to look for it... or any other illegal type over the tubes activities.

Does DSL slow down with multiple users? If so, there's another argument
posted by edgeways at 9:48 AM on November 28, 2006

Depending on how you have your network set up, letting him share your connection probably puts him behind your firewall (assuming you have one box that's serving as a firewall + router + IPmasq). This isn't a particularly good situation for a business, as it means he could probably get relatively easy access to your shared files, printers, and other network resources.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:49 AM on November 28, 2006

So now I've been tasked with providing the head with a list of concrete reasons why not to share our DSL line with a separate enterprise.

Because he's not paying for it?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:53 AM on November 28, 2006

Why do you need a reason? If it's not part of the lease, just block his MAC address and tell him to stop being such a cheapskate. You helped hiome get set up, but you aren't a charity.

If you still need a reason, just point out to your boss that, as long as you are sharing a connection this way, the tenant could possibly be capturing every plaintext password, intranet address, customer record or other confidential data that passes over the network, as well as rooting through your file shares, file servers and other data.

That may not be the case (especially if the network is switched). but that should be reason enough. At the very least, putting someone who you don't know and trust inside the firewall is very, very iffey.

On preview, what Kadin 2048 said.
posted by baggers at 9:57 AM on November 28, 2006

On top of all the above very valid points, you could look at it from the accounting point of view. Your accountant could reasonably decide that if the subtenant is going to piggyback off you, he's going to help pay for it. But the added burden of setting up a procedure for billing him and collecting from him wouldn't be worth it—that is, you could make the case that his share of the bill + your billing overhead > your total bill. I mean, sheesh, broadband is pretty cheap these days, right?
posted by adamrice at 10:11 AM on November 28, 2006

There's also a finite amount of bandwidth. If they're doing something intensive (VoIP and the like), that's just so much less bandwidth for your use.

Of course, you could always arrange to leave him connected, but with a low QoS value. Then just leave ntp constantly syncing the time.

Making sure your clock's right is important, right? ^_^
posted by owenkun at 10:22 AM on November 28, 2006

You have a router, every router from cheapo linksys all the way up the scale supports blocking mac addresses, or making a mac address whitelist. Do either. Cut him off unless there is a legal reason why you are obligated to give this to him.

The other option is to unplug him. You can do this over wireless by just changing the password. He'll have to come ask what it is, and you can say 'no'.
posted by cschneid at 10:26 AM on November 28, 2006

Be wary. The subtenant may have asked the branch manager something like "Do you have Internet?" and the branch manager may have taken this question at face value, implying only that he wanted to know "can the phone company bring DSL to this location" and said yes. The tenant, on the other hand, may have taken this to mean "Yes we have Internet and you can use it" and consider it a verbal contract, because after all some office space does come with Internet service.

Hopefully the lease agreement spells out that Internet is not included. If not, the tenant may feel you tricked him and that he has grounds for a suit.

I'm not saying you should give in, but the tenant may be able to get away with being quite a nuisance in this situation and you may in the end find it easier to just give him the Internet (throttled back enough to guarantee you always have the bandwidth you need).
posted by kindall at 11:36 AM on November 28, 2006

If he's going through your router, then you essentially have a computer that you don't control on your internal network.

This exposes your network traffic to his computer, and therefore there is no technical obstacle to him sniffing that traffic. If you handle sensitive information such as customer data, you will be in breach of your responsibility, if not actual regulations, by allowing his computer to remain on your network.

Your network is not secure as long as a computer you do not control is on it. Even if he's not doing anything he shouldn't (which would be nearly impossible for you to verify), you're also exposed to any viruses or spyware his computers may be infected with.

It would be irresponsible to allow him to remain on your private network under any circumstances. If you have any kind of sensitive data, or you access company financial data, it is all exposed to this tenant. If you have shareholders, you're now in breach of SEC regulations.

I find it difficult to imagine any scenario under which this WOULDN'T be a bad idea. Cut him off now.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:54 PM on November 28, 2006

Too many words, all of you. This should be a bullet list for management.

• Bandwidth is a finite resource and he could conceivably utilize enough of it/all of it and impact your ability to do your work. Tools to manage this are more expensive than a year's worth of DSL (mostly true)
• The legal owner of the DSL line (you) is potentially legally liable for activities, malicious or accidental, that the sub-lease engages in.
• Similarly, if sub-tenant does something, deliberately or accidentally, that causes a DMCA takedown notice and your DSL provider turns off service to comply then you will be without the tools to do your job
• He will be on your internal network, behind your firewall, and therefor possibly able to see confidential information that is currently protected from outsiders by a firewall.
• He will be on your internal network, behind your firewall, and therfor any careless use of his computer resulting in viral/trojan infection potentially could harm your data
• Since he is not an employee of your business he is not subject to your internet & computer use policy but his misuse could damage your resources (see above).

posted by phearlez at 2:54 PM on November 28, 2006

Too many words, all of you. This should be a bullet list for management.

I'm pretty sure none of us meant for bartleby to copy and paste our words directly into an email to his boss.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:01 PM on November 28, 2006