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Wi-Fi Sharing?
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Monday, June 26, 2006
11:00:00 AM EDT
Hearing On Top -- The Killers
Here's an interesting question: Would you make your wi-fi connection to the Internet open to everyone who wanted to use it, if they did the same for you? There's a company who has created a business model that bets you would:
FON, a Spanish start-up on an ambitious crusade to turn home Wi-Fi connections into wireless "hotspots" for nearby users, is set to unveil on Monday a plan to hand out 1 million wireless routers for just $5 apiece.
FON, which aims to create a network of home users and small businesses to resell wireless access to passersby, said on Sunday it will subsidize $60 Cisco Systems' Linksys or Buffalo routers for $5 in the United States or 5 euros in Europe.
The goal of the Madrid-based company is to build block-by-block networks of shared wireless connections around the globe, turning local Wi-Fi users into an army of "foneros"--its term for people who share wireless access.
As a practical matter, most people who have wi-fi seem to have open personal networks almost by default -- it's relatively easy now to create a wi-fi network, but it's slightly more difficult to lock it up (at the very least, it takes more steps, and not everyone wants to bother). I recently locked up my wi-fi network after having it for more than a year, and that wasn't because I was worried about people driving by and using it (my plot of land is large enough that the signal peters out before it gets to the next house); it was mostly to see if I had the technical competence to do it. But I'm not these guy's target market anyway, because I live out in the middle of nowhere.
I like the idea of people leaving their wi-fi networks open to others (particularly if the favor is returned), but I'm not personally convinced there's an actual business there. But it doesn't hurt for someone to try.
So: Would you leave your wi-fi connection open for others to use, if they did the same for you?
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11:00:00 AM EDT
Hearing On Top -- The Killers
Wi-Fi Sharing?
Here's an interesting question: Would you make your wi-fi connection to the Internet open to everyone who wanted to use it, if they did the same for you? There's a company who has created a business model that bets you would:
FON, a Spanish start-up on an ambitious crusade to turn home Wi-Fi connections into wireless "hotspots" for nearby users, is set to unveil on Monday a plan to hand out 1 million wireless routers for just $5 apiece.
FON, which aims to create a network of home users and small businesses to resell wireless access to passersby, said on Sunday it will subsidize $60 Cisco Systems' Linksys or Buffalo routers for $5 in the United States or 5 euros in Europe.
The goal of the Madrid-based company is to build block-by-block networks of shared wireless connections around the globe, turning local Wi-Fi users into an army of "foneros"--its term for people who share wireless access.
As a practical matter, most people who have wi-fi seem to have open personal networks almost by default -- it's relatively easy now to create a wi-fi network, but it's slightly more difficult to lock it up (at the very least, it takes more steps, and not everyone wants to bother). I recently locked up my wi-fi network after having it for more than a year, and that wasn't because I was worried about people driving by and using it (my plot of land is large enough that the signal peters out before it gets to the next house); it was mostly to see if I had the technical competence to do it. But I'm not these guy's target market anyway, because I live out in the middle of nowhere.
I like the idea of people leaving their wi-fi networks open to others (particularly if the favor is returned), but I'm not personally convinced there's an actual business there. But it doesn't hurt for someone to try.
So: Would you leave your wi-fi connection open for others to use, if they did the same for you?
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has 3 comments: (Add your own)
-
I spliced into my neighbor's cable already, and that seems fun enough... maybe I'll sign up for FON.
-
OUCH! Right now I can't even get my own laptop back on my network. As for sharing the air...no, I don't mind.
6/26/06 1:01 PM
It seems as if to open a wireless network for others to use, you must depend on and trust the people that there won't be anything untoward going on. And when it comes to that sort of thing, I'm not all that trusting.
Patrick