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Speakeasy Introduces Broadband WiFi Sharing Plan
An anonymous reader writes "Today, speakeasy (the greatest ISP ever) sent out a letter from the CEO introducing their NetShare Wi-Fi plan. It lets you share your broadband with your neighbors, with Speakeasy handling the billing and splitting the fee 50/50. More ISPs should be like this!"
My neighbors pay 100%
I have been pwned because my
No, I actually mean it.
This is a great way to get the penetration without the risk of people fucking up the configuration of innumerable devices. No more battling with IOS or iptables. No more wrestling with the choice of sendmail, exim or qmail. Now, someone else does all the grunt work, you just sign up users - And you get money for it.
"God, root, what is difference?" - Pitr, userfriendly
Thats pretty cool. But what if someone breaks the Terms of Service. Would they cut the connection altogether?
I doubt any technology like this will get to ISPs in Iowa any time soon. :(
How do I mod up the CEO for +4 insightful?
I wonder how this appiles in states where using a router is (or will be) llegal. Its amusing to me that ISP's hand out routers themselves, or in this case encourage connection sharing. Kinda spits in the eye of certain lawmakers that think they know something about technology.
I'm all for the WiFi boom, but I wonder what new (read: idiotic) laws are going to start surfacing if people are broadcasting their internet connections around.
In Washington, Free == Illegal
According to the article, this applies if you get either a T1 or IDSL. IDSL maxes out at 144kbps up/down. Thats not much of a connection to share in the first place. Getting a T1 for a residential place is not all that likely even if you do cut it down to 50/50.. still a lot to pay. If youre a business user, you might not want to share the connection for security reasons.
I've had their service since DirectTVDSL crashed. They are VERY Linux friendly - their terms of service are REALLY reasonable, for the most part "do what you want as long as it's legal." Did anyone notice they are one of the three repositories for rpmfind??
I'm a happy customer!
Have you compiled your kernel today??
Sounds like Speakeasy's real benefit comes from the fact that the customers will be directing their questions to their local connection rather than calling up Speakeasy's support line. That benefit alone probably outweighs any losses they are going to incur.
As someone with a firm grounding in economics, I must admit that I just don't get it. ISPs and other groups have high fixed costs, and low variable costs
In English, that means that a lot of the infrastructure costs XXX million dollars, no matter how many customers they have and only a few things actually cost the company more as they add more customers. Because of this, I cannot understand why they would want to let people split service costs.
This article made me think of a joke I once heard... A man goes into a restaurant and sees a sign: "All you can eat 10 dollars, half of all you can eat: 5.50"
Doesn't it seem counter-intuitive for them to offer this service? I mean, increasing the number of people on residential circuits without increasing the number of paying customers is just going to degrade the service for everyone. People are still going to do it behind the backs of ISP's, but they are actually promoting it. Also, what determines which house gets the access point if the price is split 50-50 for everyone? Just a curiousity.
The site is down, or I would look to see if there are extra fees for getting service like this, or what other restrictions are put on. All-in-all, this seems good for the consumer, since you can get cheaper net access if you can get neighbors to chip in, without fearing the wrath of your ISP. Probably the RIAA should take a lesson from these people.
bananas like monkeys.
Oh, all that garbage about not be allowed to have any device that disguises where a communication originated from. Quite a few states are at least looking at it. I believe someone adopted it already, but I'm not sure. I want to say somewhere around Minnesota, but I can't recall.
In any case, routers fall directy under this proposal. They're also talking about hooking up 5 machines to one connection is ripping off ISP's or some such garbage. Yet ISPs seem to keep handing out routers and this new Speakeasy plan is even better.
I wish politicians would stay out of technology altogether.
I've shared bandwidth with roommates before and Porn Lag© during an internet Deathmatch game will make you scream.
I hope the other ISP's take notice before Speakeasy overruns them.
On second thought, please come to California and overrun my DSL provider soon.
All they have to supply is the bandwidth (damn cheap, unless your neighbour is a spammer) and some light-duty billing support (also damn cheap) and email services (also cheap). In return, they get a nice new income stream.
Definite +4 insightfull!
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
I asked the same question of them recently, and was sent this in reply:
http://www.speakeasy.net/pricing
supporting a neighborhood network can have alot of benefits if you plan it out. Consider kazaa on one single shared server that everone can remote desktop into to download, then everyone has instant access to what the others have downloaded. Now when someone finds a cool game everyone else can get interested in and you have an instant wlan party. Suddenly its more convinient to download tv shows then recording them.
The beuty of the internet is you can connect to japan as fast as your neighbor, the problem with the internet is you connect to your neighbor just as fast as japan. Wifi can change alot if you allow it.
Now THATS what I call a supernode!
What happens if you get busted for sharing music? Are you now legally responsible for your neighbors actions or are you free and clear because no one knows (not even you) who did the alleged file sharing. Logs? we dont need no stinking logs.
Am I responsible for the NetShare customer usage?
So what liability will you incur if your neighbor you just signed up :sends fraudulent spam
defaces a website
cracks a site and steals cc info
publishes libel and slander
distributes child porn
distributes the latest eminem track
etc
This might be taking on more than I'd want to deal with!
If your neighbors are sharing a connection with you it should be obvious to them whether you are paying your share of the bill each month. I'd say it could create more of a sense of accountability in regard to keeping the neighbors happy and the connection up. After all, nobody wants to be the guy who got everybody's connection turned off because he forgot to pay the bill for 60 days.
I have been wondering that for a while...
I live in a group house, and there's 9 of us with wireless ethernet running throughout the entire place. If RIAA sues because they suspect one of us is downloading something illegal, how do they decide who gets the blame, if all 9 of us are dhcp'd behind NAT, with only one publically addressable IP? You can't fathomably put it all on the one sap who registered for the DSL connection can you?
Costs that Speakeasy has to deal with are inflated over the bare cost of service and hardware.
As more ISPs do this, they put the admin tasks in the hands of capable users (hopefully better than the MCSE's they got conned into hiring). That simplies things a bit. That means that they no longer have to guarantee the speed of broadband. It allows the market to loosen up from the usually stagnant progress it's had. when you have two variables (performance and price) rather than this rigid 56k no more no less, DSL speed no more no less, customers can be satisfied and fewere are left out of the picture.
Don't we want to close the digital divide?
As Speakeasy (whoever it is up the chain) no longer has to buy as much hardware, the hardware sellers have to drop their prices, which is good for Speakeasy.
The message on the other side of this sig is false.
I'll vouch for that. Conversation between me and lady tech at speakeasy:
tech:"how do you know your connection is down 30% of the time?"
me: "I use Big Brother to monitor it."
tech:"Oh cool, we use that here too. Is there a URL you can give me to look at it?"
me: "Hmm, no, it's on a server inside my network, and I don't have a hole punched in the firewall for it."
tech:"How about emailing me a screen shot?"
me: "Hmm, hang on- I don't remember which program it is that does screen shots in Linux."
tech(sounds of her standing up):"hey guys, anyone remember how to do a screenshot in X?"
I was speechless...
Please help metamoderate.
>What kind of ethics cause one to intentionally run a open access point and then charge someone who doesn't 'get' it?
A strong belief in Darwinian Selection?
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
I run an open network for people passing by who might want to use the net for a while. I leave my network wide open, with DHCP and all, because when I travel, I apprecieate others who do the same.
However, I pay $100/mo for my dsl (split with housemates, we all value having a 1.5/768 connection), and I'm not paying that to give other people full-time premium dsl in their homes for free. This guy approached me and offered to pay in on our dsl bill, and I don't see our choice of media as having anything to do with the ethics of charging him.
I keep a pretty close eye on stats for our little net (linux hostap puts these in
I'll have to look into the NetShare thing, one the login stops 404ing, as giving him an email address and having him pay speakeasy directly may be a nicer option.
I hope to be able to continue to run my network open though.Whatever. I block outbound port 25, too. Does that also make it not open? Still seems pretty open to me, strangers can browse the web just fine... I was thinking of limiting it further, so strangers could get online, but could only make TCP connections to a whitelist of ports (ie 22). That way people can ssh out and check their mail, and if they're savy enough they can bring in a full net connection from outside. Now _that_ would be "not really open", though still open enough for a lot of wifi travelers I know.
__
Choose mnemonic identifiers. If you can't remember what mnemonic means, you've got a problem. - Larry Wall
I like Speakeasy. I was their customer for almost a year, but had to leave for SBC because they couldn't give me good service. That's not why I fault them.
The problems?
1. Hold times for customer service. 10-15 minutes was normal for me.
2. They sometimes didn't followup on open tickets. I'd call, get a ticket opened, and wait for days for them to call. Then, call back and ask about it, and hear "Gee, this ticket has been open a long time... sorry." No shit!
In general, they give good service, though it comes at a premium.
I got this email about 6 hours ago and had a chance to check the site before it was /.ed. Very interesting idea, as it brings the whole idea of a bandwidth reseller down to the user/geek level. Combine this with a OpenBSD/FreeBSD/NetBSD/Linux VPN, Squid web proxy, icecast server, a locally-shared fileserver, Quake/Half-Life server and such, and you could sell a value-added DSL/WiFi package to your neighbors. Get enough to sign-up (or add enough extra features to raise the price) and you could quite likely cover the entire DSL line cost via subscription co-payments, getting your own share of the DSL just for providing support to your users.
Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
if speakeasy is doing the billing: in the mind of the customer speakeasy is the connection. thus, if the local wifi network guru doesn't have the best skills - speakeasy may begin to look like the problem.
(for business broadband on the east coast or dc earthwave.net.)
peace outside
They've been advertising this WiFi thing on their webpage for about a month now.
The rest of that letter is more interesting. Here are some excerpts:
In addition, we also plan to support IPv6 [editor's note: !!!], multiple connections for bonding or redundancy, individual customer firewall options, improvement of peer-to-peer applications such as video conferencing and application sharing, and, eventually, relatively advanced applications such as IP multi-cast through the last mile. Of course, we will always place an emphasis on assuring the fundamental network reliability and performance our members require.
[snip]
Many of you have tried our new and much improved Web-based Email service. You may have noticed this service also includes Calendaring, Reminders (via cell phone, email) and much more. I am excited to announce today that we will soon add a service option to allow true shared calendaring for Business-Class members.
[snip]
Although VoIP (Voice over IP) has been, in our opinion, a bit over-hyped for the past few years, we believe that the technology and service has advanced to the point that it is now a viable alternative phone service for many people. Accordingly, we are exploring a Voice over IP solution that will allow Speakeasy customers to use their broadband connection to make local and long distance calls. More details to come as we complete Beta trials and determine cost and features.
Interesting, eh?
>But what if someone breaks the Terms of Service
That's a tough one, worse is being everyone's "tech support guy."
Things you WILL hear:
The internet is slow!
The laptop doesn't work in the kitchen/bedroom/toilet/outside.
I can't play SOME_ONLINE_GAME, open up these ports.
My buddy is staying for a while, can you hook him up?
Can you get a stronger antenna for that thing?
Who the hell is messenger service and why does he keep asking me to buy crap?
Hey is it cool if I download porn? I won't tell anyone. *replace porn with unregistered software, movies, etc
Virus scanners are for chumps right?
Yeah, I'll pay you next week. I'm low on funds now. (or I can pay you in pot, beer, outside art, etc)
Can you really read my email from your apartment?
Is it cool if I resale my connection to the guy upstairs? You know, like Amway.
--
I'll take peace of mind over saving a few bucks on broadband anyday.
I see no problem with charging the guy. As long as he can call on you to fix it if it goes down. Something a freebie can't do.
A LOT of companies (mostly software) do NOT sell their software directly. They use resellers. This creates not only great relationships, but also adds a free sales force. I think SpeakEasy is applying that model here.
This is a great idea, a real win/win situation. Problem is that in Australia you need a carrier license to do this if you derive any financial benefit from providing carriage to a third party, even if it only cost recovery. I would love to have my neighbours finance an upgrade from 512/128 to 1.5Mb/256kbs.
>Or just being a dick?
Call it what you like but the willingness of people to use stupidity taxes (example: Being a car mechanic) is what has made most countries as good as they are today.
You need _some_ reason to get off your ass and learn how to do something. Money is just a good motivator. And the lazy ones that don't? It's just darwinism in action.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
the page referred to in the original article
http://www.speakeasy.net/netshare/
has a link labled "learn more"
it takes you here
http://www.speakeasy.net/netshare/learnmore/
and it's SPELLED OUT there
"..including crediting the Admin's account each month for 50% of the basic Customer fees."
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
This isn't a REQUIREMENT to share your bandwidth-- Speakeasy has always allowed you to share your connection with whomever you wish. This is simply so you can opt for Speakeasy to handle the billing to those you share with (if you so choose). Its by no means a requirement, and if you are sharing to people you trust will keep up with their share of the payment, then there is most likely not a reason to use this program (unless the extra email adresses, web space and such make it worth it to you). Scam my ass, you just misread their intentions.
Fully licensed blockchain psychiatrist
Speakeasy has always allowed you to share your connection with whomever you wish... If you are sharing to people you trust will keep up with their share of the payment, then there is most likely not a reason to use this program
Actually, it is a requirement to use NetShare if your line is residential and you are collecting fees. So, yes, you can share with whomever you wish, but you'd better be using NetShare if they are paying you! From the NetShare FAQ:
Use of NetShare is mandatory if broadband circuit is residential and you intend to collect fees from third parties accessing your network.