Because of the MCO, many people have taken up side gigs to make extra money. Personally, my full-time job already takes up most of my time, and there’s only so much time left at night for additional tasks.
Basically, I was looking for something that could passively earn me some money without me actively doing anything. And what do I have in excess that I could take advantage of? My unlimited Wi-Fi bandwidth.
Simplify is a peer-to-peer Internet sharing platform that allows you to sell your excess Wi-Fi or 4G mobile data to other Simplify users.
This means that as an Internet user, you can buy Internet access literally from anyone who has extra bandwidth to spare without needing to subscribe or reload additional data from a telco.
And as a seller, you can make a side income from your unfinished mobile data or excess Wi-Fi—which I was hoping to bank on.
Getting My Wi-Fi Ready To Hustle
On the Simplify website, they list out a few simple steps of what you’ll need to do to start selling, so obviously, I followed that to a T.
1. Sign up for an account
To do so, all you need is your Google or Facebook account.
2. Link your account to Paypal
To get the dough rolling in, you’ll need a PayPal account to receive your payout.
3. Wi-Fi Setup
This process was simple as all I had to do was to create a unique Wi-Fi name, so smart me thought of: ‘RikcoTestWiFi’—simple and straight to the point.
To complete the set-up, Simplify will need your router’s MAC address, which can be usually found on the back of the router, or on your 192.168.1.1 router setup page.
Hit submit, and Simplify will generate you a Wi-Fi name and password to be set into your router. According to Simplify, the password is 13 characters long with double-encryption, making it extremely difficult to hack.
I then ran into an issue. I forgot my router’s log-in credentials. This then took me about 20 minutes to dig through my email to get the relevant info for my ISP (internet service provider) log-in.
Do note that this was not a fault with Simplify, and was purely my own. If you had access to your Wi-Fi router, the set-up would be easy.
For privacy and security reasons, I asked the team whether they keep the passwords or have access to my Wi-Fi, to which they said:
Simplify will never have access to your home Wi-Fi router. Firstly, it doesn’t have your Wi-Fi admin console password. Secondly, the home broadband network doesn’t belong to Simplify.
Simplify Team
So rest assured that your Wi-Fi isn’t being taken advantage of without your knowledge. You can simply remove or reset your Wi-Fi if you wish to stop selling.
Leaving My Wi-Fi To Earn Some Money By Itself
To test out if my Wi-Fi setup was successful, I downloaded the Simplify app to pretend to be a buyer (of my own data). As soon as I booted up the app, I saw a nearby hotspot with the name: ‘RikcoTestWiFi’.
I connected to my Wi-Fi and Simplify didn’t even require me to enter a password, so it was a seamless and “simplified” experience.
I loaded a random YouTube video to test out the connection and that used up about 30MB in just 41 seconds. Simplify will also list what you’ll be charged, and in this instance, I was charged RM0.03 for 30MB of data usage. Unlike a prepaid or postpaid plan, you pay for only what you have used.
And the process of selling was just as simple as that.
As an example, if you wanted to stream Tiger King on Netflix, it would cost you about RM2, if you’re streaming on HD.
From A Buyer’s Perspective
However, as someone who has 10GB of mobile data and 1Gbps of unlimited fibre connection at home, I’ve never felt the need to buy Wi-Fi or top-up my data plan.
Talking to the Simplify team, they told us that the bulk of their customers are students. “During this MCO period, they are either stranded in hostels or attending e-learning at home. Most of them are on prepaid data plans, with limited quota.”
As a buyer, there are a few ways you can pay for internet usage on Simplify. You can opt to pay either with PayPal or with your credit/debit card, and that includes BigPay too.
I was a little curious about the security measures, but the team assured me that they’ve partnered up with Stripe, a PCI-compliant partner which’ll keep all your payment details safe and secure.
Helping M’sians Cope With The MCO
To assist the data-hungry Malaysians that are stuck at home, Simplify is offering a free zero-commitment 20GB router package to anyone that applies for it during MCO.
The team told us that this is a free service to keep Malaysians connected during MCO. But once MCO lifts, all you have to do is to either return the Simplify router or continue hosting the Simplify Wi-Fi at your premise.
Alternatively, you can just launch the Simplify app and get internet access for just RM1 for 1GB.
They also told us the router is a simple plug-and-play system and requires no drilling or cables or the likes.
Simplify is also part of the MIT Innovation Initiative that aims to beat COVID-19 by enabling internet sharing and bringing affordable internet access to the larger global community during the lockdown.
Verdict
As mentioned, as someone with plentiful data to spare, I can be the seller and offer up my Wi-Fi and data to other customers and get paid if someone connects to it.
Or if I wish, I can open my Wi-Fi access for free and share it with other Simplify users nearby, for a good cause.
In the end, my side gig proved that it could possibly work, as I earned RM0.03 (from myself) on Simplify.
I believe Simplify has the potential to take off when there are more users on the platform because at the end of the day, it’s all about supply and demand.
- Find out more about Simplify here.
- If you top-up your Wi-Fi via Simplify GIGA, you can get 1GB of free data.
