Goodwill and intangible assets - Carrying Amount (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Intangible assets
Historical Cost	$ 36,424	$ 28,905
Accumulated Amortization	(17,272)	(18,642)
Net	19,152	10,263	$ 13,783
Venue contracts
Intangible assets
Historical Cost	20,530	22,061
Accumulated Amortization	(13,829)	(13,835)
Net	6,701	8,226
Backlog
Intangible assets
Historical Cost	7,030
Accumulated Amortization	(586)
Net	6,444
Customer and partner relationships
Intangible assets
Historical Cost	3,780
Accumulated Amortization	(206)
Net	3,574
Non-compete agreements, technology and other
Intangible assets
Historical Cost	5,084	6,844
Accumulated Amortization	(2,651)	(4,807)
Net	$ 2,433	$ 2,037

Accumulated amount of amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsAccumulatedAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 928
-SubTopic 340
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6473545&loc=d3e61844-108004

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66006027&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after amortization of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=wifi_VenueContractsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=us-gaap_OrderOrProductionBacklogMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=wifi_CustomerAndPartnerRelationshipsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=wifi_NonCompeteAgreementsTechnologyAndOtherIntangiblesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: