Stop hijacking my phone!

How Shaw Go Wi-Fi is ruining my life

By Brittney MacDonald, Staff Writer

Most people have probably seen the Shaw commercial with the two little robots and the dog. Even I can admit that it’s adorable. It makes me smile every time it comes on. Unfortunately, it’s advertising the most annoying Wi-Fi network known to man! That is, unless, you subscribe to it.

Basically it works like this: any business, be it a restaurant or retail shop, that uses Shaw as its cable Internet provider can now be used as a free hotspot for people who have Shaw as their home Internet service. The genius of the program is that it treats all these multiple Shaw hotspots as the same connection, so you can automatically connect to any Go Wi-Fi hotspot without having to provide a login. Now, none of this would matter at all if Shaw wasn’t as widespread as it is, but these hotspots are literally everywhere.

If you have a Shaw account, this is probably a dream come true. But if you don’t, or if you’re like me and you are just too lazy to set up a Go Wi-Fi account, then this network is terrible, and here’s why: Shaw Go Wi-Fi hijacks your phone!

Normally if there is a network that requires a login, your phone or device will automatically ignore it until you choose it specifically and provide necessary security information. This is how it works at hotels, airports, and even here at Douglas College. What Shaw Go Wi-Fi does is that it will automatically connect your phone to these hotspots and then immediately restrict your access until you log in.

Where this creates issues is that the Shaw Go Wi-Fi network must be either blocked or the Wi-Fi setting has to be turned off entirely to avoid it.

My biggest issue came when trying to use the GPS function on my smartphone. As someone who is directionally challenged and lives out in the middle of nowhere, I depend on my GPS a lot. The problem is that Go Wi-Fi hotspots are everywhere, and if I even just drive past one, my phone will connect to it and because of the restriction, all the sudden I get a “Failure to Connect” message and my directions are lost—and then I get lost.

Recently I decided to cut them off at the pass and just turn off my Wi-Fi beforehand. Unfortunately, I then forgot about it for two days, so now I have a pretty massive overcharge for data coming my way in the mail this month.

Now you could say that I should just be less absent-minded, but I’m not going to. Instead I’m going to say that Go Wi-Fi should be less stalker-y.

I don’t want you, Shaw Go Wi-Fi. Just accept it and leave me alone!