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Wi-Fi Alliance To Brand Public Hotspots

Posted by Hemos on from the making-sure-everyone-knows dept.

Andreas Ehn writes "802.11 Planet writes: 'The Wi-Fi Alliance is launching a new program starting today to create a global brand for easier recognition of public access hotspots. The Wi-Fi ZONE program will also include setting a minimum standard of quality for hotspots before they can label themselves a Wi-Fi ZONE or display the ZONE logo.' Read the article here! It won't be cheap, however -- you'll be expected to pay $100 for a license to use the trademark for three access points at one location, though it will be free until March 2004. Or you could just stick to warchalking."

2 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Or... by filtrs · · Score: 5, Informative

    You mean like this? Free international listing of public / open wireless internet nodes ...

    --
    My mother always used to tell me: If you can't find anything nice to say, say something bad about Windows.
  2. Re:Forging ahead with out an ounce of caution by glesga_kiss · · Score: 5, Informative
    How many times does it have to be said, "WEP IS BROKEN"?

    You don't understand the point of WEP. It is an encryption standard to get you onto the wireless network segment. If you are using a shared access point, you must either have no WEP enabled, or everyone uses the same WEP key. How easily it can be broken is completely irrelevant in any discussion about shared access points. It's like being on a normal CAT-5 shared network segment (hub, not a switch). With the WEP key in place, all traffic is available to you. No different to being in a internet cafe, would you trust your packets in that enviroment?

    WEP can be used by private firms or home users to lock down access to their own network. It is here that the weakness lies.

    The net is an unencrypted and completely insecure network. Just because the last mile is suddenly insecure, it's no reason to suddenly start to panic. If you are concerned, get some good VPN software, or stick to encrypting by protocol. It's the only way to limit access to your communications. Oh, and avoid using the phone as well.

    Personally, I'm more concerned that POP/IMAP over SSL is as rare as it is currently, especially given how easy it is to configure. You want something to worry about? Who's holding this back? Where's my tinfoil hat?