RSSFON to Offer $5 Wi-Fi Routers
By Ed Oswald | Published June 26, 2006, 11:41 AM
Spanish startup FON, which is aiming to set up a worldwide network of free Wi-Fi hotspots, said Sunday it would sell 1 million routers for $5 or 5 euros, as long as the purchaser promises to use it to share his Internet connection. The program will cost the company some $60 million to undertake.
Either a Linksys WRT54GL or Buffalo WHRG54S would be supplied to the user with the FON software preinstalled. Once a user shares the connection, in return the user would be able to use any FON hotspot for free. If not, a $3 daily access charge would apply.
There would be a penalty for those who do not register their router with the service, FON said. Those not on the network within 30 days would automatically be charged either $45 or 45 euros, depending on location.
"We are not making any money off of the sale of these routers," the company said. "So all we are asking is that you use the router as a Fonero."
FON first made headlines in February when it announced that it had secured 18 million euros in funding from both Google and Skype, plus two investment firms. The company planned to use the money to build out its network, which it then hoped would reach 1 million hotspots by 2010.
However, FON has since moved up that timetable. It hopes to have 50,000 working hotspots by September, 100,000 by the end of the year, and 1 million by 2007. Currently, the service has some 54,000 registrants.
The legality of FON isn't exactly clear. Some ISPs bar their users from sharing their connections, which could lead to lawsuits by cable and telephone Internet providers. But so far, no providers have publicly come out in opposition to the project.
"as long as the purchaser promises to use it to share his Internet connection"
Just what we need more Novice computer users sharing internet connections.
This is a hackers paradise a bunch of Novice users that have no idea how to protect themselfs having no firewalls and enable windows file sharing so anyone and thier mother can obtain access to thier computer.
As it is now its fairly easy to crack into wireless networks, so not being able to set it to mac address specific connections, not being able to hide SSID, not being able to WEP/WPA/PSK encrypt it cause you have to share it is gunna cause huge security risks.
I see a spike in zombie computers in the near future.
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|I agree that there are security risks, however, I am thinking about buying one of these routers and
I will secure it from my network by putting it in a DMZ and I will only allow certain traffic such as http/https/pop3 etc.
If you know what your doing, then this could be a really good tool.
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|You dont understand.
The only way to access the router is if you have a login and password. Think of it as like a wireless network at an Airport.
If you yourself share your internet with the FON router, or the firmware for supported linksys/buffalo routers assuming you have a supported router, then you can use the login/pass you signed up with to access these free hot spots.
If you do not wish to share your internet (or you wish to make your personal FON hotspot generate money) with the FON router or with the custom firmware, then the ONLY WAY to ACCESS these hot spots is through purchasing a monthly pass.
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|What if the router only support HTTP traffic? That could stop some of the SMTP issues.
I think its a great idea but there are pluses and negatives to everything.
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|I'm interested in trying this program out. Any site for more details yet?
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|http://es.fon.com/shop-eu/index.php?language=en
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|Basically its not like a free wireless that anyone can access.
Basically you give you get.
People set up these FON hotspots and the only way to get access is to give access. Well, thats if you want to use them for free.
If you setup a FON hotspot yourself you get free access to other FON hotspots via use of your own login/pass.
There are 2 ways to set up a FON hotspot:
1) have one of the 4 supported routers in which FON makes their homemade firmware for and install that firmware.
2) buy a router from them for $5 with the firmware already installed, with the stipulation that you will run it all the time for free.
You dont have to set up access though. You can access the FON network as an "alien" as they call it. In this case though you have to pay for access...monthly cost.
If you want to make money for setting up FON you can do that too. However if you set yourself up in this matter, as a LINUS as its called, where you make money from setting it up, you have to pay to access other FON's.
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|I love it!.. More that have the net! the Better!..
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|I think this is OK to do AS LONG AS you live in a suburban area.
I say this because in an suburban area you are more likely to find home users buying their own internet connection and less likely to leech off neighbors. In these area you have to assume your neighbors are not technologically proficient enough to have broadband, let alone a wireless network.
In this respect it makes suburban areas better for travel...if you get lost you can connect to one of these networks setup under this Utopian idea and be off. Or if you are walking the block you can take out your UMPC or PDA and use the net for a bit.
You are less likely to find people just leeching constantly, sucking up precious bandwidth.
In urban areas you would probably find the complete opposite of what is described above.
More idiots with unsecure wireless networks...making it easy to connect anywhere...no need to setup many more to get full city-wide coverage.
Where I lived in NYC I'd say my street was fully covered wirelessly.
Where I live outside Philly, my street is like 5% covered, if that...considering the strength of my wireless routers stink.
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|Also, it will stop people paying for internet services themselves because they can leech off a neighbour.
Thus fewer routers will be needed anyway.
As computershack said: too utopian.
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|So what is to stop someone from getting a router, sharing it, registering it, and then 2 weeks later disable the sharing?
Don't get me wrong, I am all for sharing, however I live in the in a small town so not many (if any) would use it.
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|Nice utopian principle but completely ignoring the fact that most ISPs do not allow this and certainly in the UK, a great many ISPs have a capped monthly limit.
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|Not to mention the security/legal ramifications. This will open the door for email spammers and hackers to go about their business with absolute anonymity. While the poor person who was just trying to be generous gets stuck with a legal bill trying to prove that they weren't the ones committing the crime. Not to mention an increased risk of identity theft for those who use their computers (who doesn't these days) to track their finances.
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