$5 Social Wi-Fi Router

slashjunkie writes "BBC News is running a story about the Spanish firm Fon, selling subsidized Linksys WRT54GL Wi-Fi routers for $5, in exchange for the buyer agreeing to a 12 month contract of providing access to other Fon users within range. With the financial backing of Google and Skype, their goal is to create Wi-Fi networks, street by street, across Europe and the US. Buyers of the subsidized routers can classify themselves as 'Linuses', whereby they also get free access to all other Fon hotspots, or 'Bills', where they receive 50% of the revenue made by on-selling their Wi-Fi to other Fon users. 'Alien' users can buy 24-hour passes for 3 Euro. To deter misuse, all Fon users must identify themselves by a username and password before they can access the hotspot. As long as the owner's personal LAN is not accessible, this could be a good way to offset the costs of the average geek's bandwidth bill."

Comments

TOS

[ronanbear]

Most broadband providers specifically prohibit you from sharing your connection in this manner. If something like this were to become popular they'd just have to start clamping down on it.

Re:TOS

[truthsearch]

You're right. It's not the end-user's responsibility. It's their legal obligation based on the terms of service they agreed to.

Re:TOS

[bcat24]

How is that insightful? If you don't like the ToS, that doesn't mean you can break them. And I really doubt you could find an affordable service provider that allows connection sharing.

Re:TOS

[NekoXP]

Speakeasy (www.speakeasy.net) encourage it though, which is ace.

Although I can't find the page which explains it outside of my account pages (needs login, sigh) you can resell your connection and also sell your neighbours all-new connections, using a plan they have in place.

This has been there for yeaaars.

Re:TOS

[arivanov]

Can you imagine 20 users at a coffee shop trying to use WiFi voice at the same time?

No probs. The 802.11a,b,g family has two different MAC schemes (the idea is stolen from Cable actually).

There is a random access scheme similar to the ancient ethernet. In that case 20 VOIP users will simply bring the link down by trying to access the media.

There is also a scheme under which the AP will transmit maps which tell each client when to transmit. I do not have the time to do the exact math at the time, but it should be possible to accommodate 20 VOIP clients using this MAC and leave some breathing space for normal access (not a lot though). The problem is that for this scheme to be usefull the clients must have means of getting reservations from the AP. Tough luck - no such clients out there. Similarly, the AP must have an integrated Layer2-Layer3 filtering mechanism which hooks up straight into MAC and creates transmit maps based on statefull filter context. Once again - tough luck. There is no such AP out there (AFAIK). On top of that while this is in the spec it is hardly in use anywhere so the level of testing clients have is very low. I would expect some of the more cheap and cheerfull clients which do MAC portions in software to be broken with regard to this.

Re:TOS

[Andy Dodd]

Well, not being able to scale back below 6 Mbps isn't a bad thing. That means inherently more capacity (more users) IF the system is implemented right. Of course, for a small number of users per base station, a lower speed would be more appropriate to allow more independent base stations.

The problem is that WiFi's channel access scheme is designed for packet switched data that often comes in large bursts. Its CSMA/CA scheme is great for that, but is vastly inferior in terms of overhead to TDMA or CDMA schemes for multiple users who each only need a small fraction of capacity. To support VoIP well, WiFi really needs some sort of timeslot reservation scheme.

Re:TOS

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

If you don't like the ToS, that doesn't mean you can break them.

Depending upon the location and the laws there, that may be exactly what it means. It is common for unenforceable and illegal terms to be written into end user agreements. In many places regulating how many people are using a service is a violation of FCC rules for common carriers. Additionally, in many locations in the US a few companies have been granted exclusive access to the public right of ways needed to deliver service and thus have a monopoly. There are a lot of special rules and regulations for such monopolies.

And I really doubt you could find an affordable service provider that allows connection sharing.

Well, you may be right and you may not in any given location. One service provider called Speakeasy that supplies DSL lines across the US not only allows sharing at a reasonable price, but they have infrastructure set up that you can use for billing those you share with (if you so desire). If you get a DSL line they will give you advice on setting up a wireless router or series of peering routers. If you want to start signing up neighbors to use it, you can just send the names and addresses to Speakeasy and they will take care of the billing for a cut of the proceeds. You start getting checks in the mail instead of bills.

Re:So what?

[dissolved]

They're not that cheap everywhere... check out eBuyer (www.ebuyer.co.uk). I paid about $80 or so for mine in the UK.

shipping costs

[tmk]

In Germany the shipping costs 18 Euro - and the router is shipped in three weeks.

Re:So what?

[ronanbear]

Maybe you'd like the bit about how if you share your access for free you get access when roaming for free. Or maybe you'd prefer to get paid for sharing your access. The cheap router is only part of it. Having your connection slowed and people camped outside your house might be less desirable.

Re:So what?

[CrimsonScythe]

They are brand new Linksys WRT54GL or Buffalo WHRG54S routers, which means that they are good quality and fairly expensive units. I think this is a great idea.

5euros != Actual cost

[Iloinen Lohikrme]

5e is not the actual cost that the router will cost to you. Besides 5e you have to pay postage and VAT, which in my case made the total cost near 26e. 26e is not that bad, but then again, with that money you can get an basic wireless access point. Thought, if you are moving a lot and need wireless access, then joining Fon would make some sense.

Re:What if

[Library Spoff]

Having only quickly looked at the site this morning... They are either another member of FON, or have paid to use your connection. So surely it's the same if someone did those things at starbucks/McDonalds etc etc

Re:Hidden message ?

[Jeff Molby]

Umm, it's not hidden at all. 'Bills' want cash for any resources provided, just like Mr. Gates. 'Linuses' trade their resources for goodwill, just like our favorite champion of OSS.

Re:Legal can of worms

[jonored]

Hence the login, which includes paying if you aren't in the system, and which involves being a known person who is running their own AP if you are.

Fon does handle accountability. It's not just "Hey! I've got an open access point here! Have fun!" it's "this is a node in the network managed by this company. You have identified yourself with this company, so you are allowed to use this node in exchange for whichever of these return services is most convenient for you."

Re:So what?

[fistfullast33l]

From their "shop":

Remember that you must register your router and keep it on at all times. This great low price helps us build the FON Community. Therefore, we will apply a $/€ 45 surcharge on all routers that have not been registered within 30 days of having made the purchase

So if you buy the router and don't activate it, they'll charge you $45 or €45 depending on where you live? It isn't really clear which value they go by, but I imagine it depends on what currency you used to purchase it. Personally, I think it's better for them to charge a flat €45 since it's worth almost 1.5 times the dollar at this point.

For the love of (insert Deity here) RTA b4 comment

[dizzy8578]

Try this one if you like a little more info.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/275421_goog le27.html

And Google if you want more.

The software is available for download if you already have a compatable router.
The $5 router is new but the warranty is null since the firmware is flashed with the FON version.

The firmware can split your bw between two ssid's one for FON and the other for private. Since the routers listed can be used with linux in the first place, (even the low ram ones per a Slashdot story from the past) then it is a good guess as to what the firmware is based on.

The router will indeed FON home (User>pass auth) and the interoperability and potential multipath routing seems inevitable when the density reaches a critical point in a particular area. (yes this is a guess rather than something in the site literature.)

But it seems like a good deal with little risk to the hot spot provider. The basic access is tracked and limited to users by password whether Linuses, Bills or Aliens.

ISP's who like to limit their users deserve to feel the slight pain of savvy users leaving for better ISP's.

I intend to dedicate one of my public IP's to the system and my ISP does not give a rats patoot what I do with is as long as I pay my bill and abuse does not get any valid complaints. I moved from comcast long ago and since my qwest router is bridged from my isp, Qwest has no say in how my bandwidth is used either.

  Of course I live in a city where my wifi detector finds free open signals by the dozens at nearly every traffic light, I suspect some folks here will split off a portion of their BW if there is a potential of making a little money for their service.

I will become a Linus just to help the concept of universal wi-fi along if only a little bit. I am going to upgrade my wifi net anyway once the N becomes semi standard so I will have 3 FON compat routers to share with the neighborhood while keeping my private network kinda tight.

But go to the site and read for your self the details of the program.
http://en.fon.com/info/whats_fon.php

Then make your own pithy comments here. :)

Re:Real Communism

[Anonymous Coward]

From: http://es.fon.com/shop-eu/product_info.php?product s_id=28

"Remember that you must register your router and keep it on at all times. This great low price helps us build the FON Community. Therefore, we will apply a $/ 45 surcharge on all routers that have not been registered within 30 days of having made the purchase. Once you have registered your router, you must keep it running and available for all other FONEROS. We are not making any money off of the sale of these routers. So all we are asking is that you use the router as a FONERO. If you have any problem registering your router or getting it working, one of our support geeks will lend you a hand."

Re:So what?

[ionpro]

Personally, I think it's better for them to charge a flat 45 since it's worth almost 1.5 times the dollar at this point.

Worth almost 1.5 USD for very small values of 1.5.

Re:Real Communism

[MbM]

There's a small heartbeat program that basically calls home confirming that you're still running the firmware.

Re:So what?

[BoaZaur]

Last year When I went to USA, I cut down on my phone bill by walking around with a Toshiba PDA, and Skype to Israel when ever I was in a coffee shop, at the Hotel, or when I was at the conference hall I was attending. (AOL had a Wifi coverage of the conference). Also when Family and other people wanted to reach me all they needed is to Skype me, and I'd pick it up pretty fast. I had set up Skype-out and it was grate. Maybe next time I would even set up a skype-in with an American phone-number.

So Yes it will be very nice to have this every where.

Free Life
Boaz

Re:Liability?

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

Who would be liable for illegal downloads? You might be getting a $65 router for free but at the same time - you might end up with a huge hassle for usage.

To my knowledge no one in the US has yet been sued for illegal downloading. Uploading on this device, however, might be a different issue. Still, there will be logs of who was connected via any given point, since this service requires a username and password. It just makes the subpoenas slow and hard to get. I wouldn't worry about this. There are much easier targets for RIAA, etc. They can just go ask the cable company for a pile of IPs and names and sift through them when they want to get publicity for their scare campaign.

Re:not so interesting

[Colin Smith]

nope, not going to be a big problem. As the number of access points increases, so does the number of landline connections to the internet, even throttled there would be plenty of landline bandwidth.

Easily hackable

[schlub]

FON sends you a WRT54GL running a modified version of OpenWRT. It uses a simple script to hit up a heartbeat url to let FON know you're using the router. You can easily install your own firmware such as a unmodified OpenWRT or DD-WRT and run a cron job to hit up the heartbeat page. $5 linux router becomes yours to use as you see fit ;)

Here's some URLs breaking it down:
http://www.twindx.com/node/106 and http://www.twindx.com/node/109

Beware of SpeakEasy, they do not necessarily honor

[ClioCJS]

...their service contracts, or pre-sales claims.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/76331315/in/ photostream/

Simply observe the chat above. I tried to make it abundantly clear that I could use 100% of my bandwidth 100% of the time. Within 6 months, after repeated harassment, they gave me an ultimatum: Use less than 100G per month, or be terminated.

Ultimately I was terminated. A few months later, I finally got $50 back; originally they were trying to charge me the $300 cancellation fee even though it was they who cancelled me, not the other way around.

In talking with thier esclation director, he admitted that I was having zero impact on network performance.

And, they say "no bots". And they consider bittorrent a fucking bot, if you'll believe that.

This was AFTER I installed a scheduler that basically only downloaded at 10% capacity during business hours. That wasn't good enough.

Buyer beware. SpeakEasy is nothing but another faceless corporation in my eyes. I've returned to the land of Mom-and-Pop ISPs. Silcon.com doesn't have great performance, but they leave me alone.