Should roommates split wifi equally?
Both at fault
The short answer
Yes, unless the household agreed otherwise when the plan was chosen. A roommate who demands a faster plan for personal use pays the difference.
The ruling
From the public record. Names are replaced with roles.
Small claims division
Case no.PC-2026-06003
The roommate who is rarely home v. The roommate who upgraded the internet plan
Filed 10/19/2026
- Plaintiff
- The roommate who is rarely home
- Defendant
- The roommate who upgraded the internet plan
Statement of claim
I work late and I am home maybe four nights a week. My roommate upgraded us to the fastest plan for his gaming and wants me to pay half of $90. I check my email on it.
Charge
Unilateral upgrade of a shared internet plan, followed by an equal split of the new price
Judgment
Both at fault
Both roommates at fault in the $90 wifi plan dispute
Sentence
The roommates split the price of the old plan evenly. The defendant pays the full difference for the upgrade every month he keeps it.
How the court usually rules on this
The court treats wifi like any other utility: it is split evenly, because nobody measures who used which megabyte. The exception is an upgrade one roommate asked for and the others did not need. Being away a lot does not earn a discount on its own, since the connection was there the whole time. Most of these cases end with both sides partly right.
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