WIBTA for putting a password on my dorm Wi-Fi that only I pay for?
So I live in this typical university dorm where the official campus internet is basically a joke. It is slow, blocks half the gaming servers, and dies the moment everyone starts streaming Netflix at 8 PM. Three months ago I decided to take matters into my own hands and got a private 5G router with a decent unlimited plan. It was not cheap but for me it is a necessity because I do some freelance coding and I need to be able to play Dota without 300 ping spikes.
When I first set it up my two roommates asked if they could connect just to check their mail or whatever. I figured why not since we are all broke students and I wanted to be a good guy. I told them it was fine but asked them not to go crazy with huge downloads. For a week it was okay then I started noticing the speeds dropping hard. I checked the admin panel and saw that not only were my roommates connected but there were like five other devices I did not recognize. Turns out they gave the password to their friends from the room next door because those guys were complaining about the lag in some mobile shooter.
I asked them to stop sharing it and they just shrugged saying that internet should be free and we are all in this together. Yesterday I was trying to finish a project for a client and the connection was crawling because someone was downloading a 60GB update for some game. I got fed up and changed the password without saying anything. Ten minutes later the complaints started. They called me a gatekeeper and said I was being a selfish prick for hogging the bandwidth when I could clearly afford it.
One of them even had the audacity to say that since the router is in a common area I do not have the right to lock people out of it. I told them if they want the password they can split the monthly bill with me but they refused saying they are too broke for that. Now the whole floor thinks I am some kind of elitist tech guy who hates his peers. I am just tired of paying for everyone else to watch TikTok while my own work suffers.
I honestly do not see why I should provide a free service for people who do not even respect my one rule about sharing. My roommates are barely talking to me now and the vibe in the room is just trash. Am I really the asshole for wanting what I paid for? I am literally just trying to survive the semester without my grades or my freelance income tanking because of some random guys in the next room using my data for free.