In the netherlands providers has linked the wifi enable settings in their modem/router/accesspoints to their online account and if you disable the wifi you won't get access to the free networks they deployed everywhere.
This is mainly because those networks are deployed by adding an second SSID to the router with WPA enterprise auth. The solution many people choose is putting the router in the basement with a lot of aluminium foil around it.
I don't see why this is a problem. You want to free load on other people's connections but not share your own? (In the US anyway, the free wifi you get for running that secondary SSID just comes from other people's personal connections).
This is why we can't have nice things. I hope they find a way to defeat people doing this, but my guess is it would be prohibitively expensive (war driving entire cities, etc).
The problem is that I don't have the bandwidth for it. If a single user connects to the free accesspoint and starts skype r a youtube video then I cannot use the internet anymore.
I had this problem with my Optimum router. I actually got better performance by throwing it in the closet and using a $30 dollar piece of crap instead (which has since been replaced). Sadly, it seems that everything in the consumer networking market is a trap.
This is mainly because those networks are deployed by adding an second SSID to the router with WPA enterprise auth. The solution many people choose is putting the router in the basement with a lot of aluminium foil around it.