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Corporate Encouragement For Sharing Your WiFi

anagama writes "Conventional wisdom is that one should lockdown wifi, your ISP doesn't want you to share your connection, that person checking email outside the coffee shop ought to be arrested. The UK ISP BT is offering an alternative model. The company will encourage its three million broadband users to pick up a FON router and start sharing signals. 'For BT, the move makes its broadband offering more useful to customers, who can access the Internet from more places, and BT doesn't need to build out a new wireless network itself. BT's Gavin Patterson, a managing director, holds out hopes that the FON scheme can someday "cover every street in Britain." "We are giving our millions of Total Broadband customers a choice and an opportunity," he added in a statement. "If they are prepared to securely share a little of their broadband, they can share the broadband at hundreds of thousands of FON and BT Openzone hotspots today, without paying a penny." '"

173 comments

  1. Sure, I'll share my broadband... by daedalusblond · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...but will BT pay for it?

    The only way i see this working would be if organizations were compensated for sharing. Not just "encouraged". It'd be nice to put some of the excess on our fiber circuits to good use.

    1. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by JamesRose · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That's the point, BT has BT openzone, so at places like airports BT gives wi-fi access, if you partipate in this scheme, you let people use your broadband, and in return you can use theirs and BT's. It's like communism, but the good kind :P. Of course you can choose not to, and you pay a little to accesss the wi-fi area.

    2. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by Seumas · · Score: 1

      More importantly, are you still going to ban someone's account when "they" use too much "secret limit" bandwidth in a given month?

    3. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by empaler · · Score: 1

      More importantly, are you still going to ban someone's account when "they" use too much "secret limit" bandwidth in a given month? That's a very American thing. EU consumer laws usually stop that sort of behaviour. (If you know of any such problems in the UK, please do tell)
    4. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting how you spouted that off about it being an American trait. You know things are bad here in the states(especially leadership) when an American agrees with you.

    5. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by Bogtha · · Score: 2, Informative

      ...but will BT pay for it?

      Yes. Summary: When somebody accesses the Internet through your connection, they pay for it, and you get half.

      --
      Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
    6. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by tmk · · Score: 1

      You will only get money, if someone buys access at your hotspot. But it's actually less than half the money they receive. And they pay only if you have a earned a certain amount of money. And when a Fonero with free access surfs, you receive nothing. In result nearly nobody ever got any money from FON.

    7. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by solitas · · Score: 1

      How much compensation will they get when someone anonymously uses their IP to text/chat/email/etc. a threat to the gov't? Or starts a virus/worm/etc.? DDoS?

      --
      "It's time to take life by the cans." ~ Bender ("Bendin' in the Wind", ep. 3-13)
    8. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by Laurence0 · · Score: 1

      You might be unlikely to get any money from the scheme, but you still get to use other people's wifi, including (apparently) BT Openzone points. I'd say it'd be worth it for that alone, if I wasn't on faster broadband than BT provide. You can also have a certain amount of warm fuzzies for helping people get online where it would have been awkward before, but I'm sure that doesn't show up on your bottom line...

    9. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by mollymoo · · Score: 1

      Of course you can choose not to, and you pay a little to accesss the wi-fi area.

      A little? You've never seen Openzone's prices, have you? They don't charge a little, they charge a hell of a lot. The minimum spend is £6 ($12), for which you get a whopping 60 minutes of (in my limited experience) 56k-modem speeds and timeouts. So, if you stop for a coffee, check your email and read slashdot for a bit the net access will have cost you three times as much as the coffee.

      --
      Chernobyl 'not a wildlife haven' - BBC News
    10. Re:Sure, I'll share my broadband... by jZnat · · Score: 1

      A little? You've never seen Openzone's prices, have you? They don't charge a little, they charge a hell of a lot. The minimum spend is £6 ($12), for which you get a whopping 60 minutes of (in my limited experience) 56k-modem speeds and timeouts. So, if you stop for a coffee, check your email and read slashdot for a bit the net access will have cost you three times as much as the coffee. You don't have Starbucks in Britain, do you? That would be about the same price of coffee there.
      --
      'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
  2. Not for free. Charging extra users. by mjensen · · Score: 3, Informative

    From the article, FON is charging the extra users. It's extra revenue for them. The extra users aren't getting on for free.

  3. I'm using shared WiFi to write this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...first post!

  4. How hte hell by armanox · · Score: 0, Troll

    Do we block this guy from ever being able to concievably post again? Or how can we delete these posts that nobody has any interest whatsoever in reading?

    --
    I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
    1. Re:How hte hell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      RTFM. Slashdot doesn't delete posts because Taco doesn't believe in deleting posts. There are two ways I know of for a post to disappear:

      1. If it gets flushed because the discussion is too large, a la 20721.
      2. If our Benevolent Masters at the Church of Scientology disapprove in any way

      "We" can't "block" "this guy" from "concievably" posting, for several reasons:

      1. We are not Slashdot admins
      2. It's not one guy
      3. Concievably isn't a word
      4. IP bans are ineffective due to the availability of proxies
      5. Jews orchestrated and carried out the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in New York

      My advice to you is that you delve deep into your user configuration page and fix it so that you don't see AC posts or -1 Troll posts at all. Alternatively, type up a bogus DMCA takedown notice claiming the shit-eating first post as your own work. Before you can even click "Send", Taco will be knocking at your door wearing nothing but a pair of see-through panties and handcuffs, eager for you to administer his "punishment" for being a "bad boy".

    2. Re:How hte hell by Paradigm_Complex · · Score: 1

      A large part of the problem is questionable moderation. I my preferences set up such that I shouldn't see the first post, but at this time it's modded (Score:0, Insightful). Any other advice? Oy.

      --
      "A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
    3. Re:How hte hell by totally+bogus+dude · · Score: 1

      That may be the best post I've ever read. Thank you, AC.

  5. WTF? by religious+freak · · Score: 1

    Uh... security anyone?

    --
    If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
    1. Re:WTF? by EriDay · · Score: 2, Informative

      FON authenticates its users.

    2. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your ISP makes internet access available to you. Does that compromise their security?

      Unless these routers are configured in a half-assed fashion I don't see security being a problem.

    3. Re:WTF? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      >Uh... security anyone?

      No thanks, I'm trying to cut down.

    4. Re:WTF? by MikeFM · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That's why we invented ssl, ssh, etc. AP security is mostly an illusion anyway and at least IMO it should not be allowed as it's hijacking a scarce public resource (the frequency being used) and making it into a private resource. Very annoying if you live in a crowded area where everyone is trying to run their own little AP and it's to congested to work well and you can't share because they are all locked.

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    5. Re:WTF? by binarybum · · Score: 2, Insightful

      yes. ISPs would be much more secure if they didn't make internet access available to customers. And banks would be much more secure if they weren't always dealing with people's money.

          Sharing anything causes an increased security risk. The more hops data makes, the more vulnerable it is. The most vulnerable place typically being where it first enters a network.
            The question then becomes can BT manage these new security risks well enough to keep customer satisfaction at profitable levels? I'm sure they have some pretty smart people behind figuring that out, and I hope that they are right.

      --
      ôó
    6. Re:WTF? by stewbacca · · Score: 1

      Overrated. Unless, I guess, you hack into my bank account, but you really don't need to be hacked into my network to do that.

  6. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by Aladrin · · Score: 1

    I think the point is not to get on for free, but to get on from anywhere they happen to be standing. If you share yours, and they share theirs, FON can make lots of money by having access points everywhere without paying a penny, and call it 'sharing' with each other.

    --
    "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
  7. A solution for the muni-wifi conundrum? by ctdownunder · · Score: 1

    This is a very cool solution that has been proposed by many community based wifi projects. That BT would endorse an organic approach like this is very open minded. Let's hope that internal politics doesn't commit this idea to the "let's outsource this for study" meeting whores, effectively shelving it.

    --
    The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
    1. Re:A solution for the muni-wifi conundrum? by IndieKid · · Score: 1

      Well, it's definitely happening, very shortly. BT are my ISP and I signed up on Friday, apparently my router will receive a firmware update today, automatically and I've already used the free access at an Openzone (BT's wireless service) hotspot.

  8. That's how San Fran et all should have done it by turnipsatemybaby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can think of no simpler way to implement a city-wide free wifi system than a grassroots method such as this. Not only is the up front cost relatively inexpensive per user, it's distributed across thousands of people who can take part if/when they see fit, and it's much easier for individual people to maintain than a central authority.

    Not only that, you would have the redundancy of having multiple choices of APs in a given area, so if one goes down for whatever reason, you can still choose another.

    It's almost like the equivalent of swarm intelligence, but applied to wifi.

    1. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by daedalusblond · · Score: 1

      Even better, how about roaming?

      You don't ever want to have to stay in JUST ONE coffee shop just because SP3 is downloading.

    2. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      This isn't "grassroots", it's being done by BT. BT is essentially pre-compromised by british intelligence services. Now, they tend to be somewhat less unpleasant people than american spooks (subjective), but still, this is basically pre-emptively building a monitorable and centrally controlled wireless network before british subjects start getting too uppity and build their own widespread mesh networks, much harder for big brother to control and monitor.

    3. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by maxume · · Score: 1

      What do you do about areas where no one pitches in?

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    4. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by Angostura · · Score: 1

      If the spooks want to monitor IP traffic, they'll just stick a probe or two in at Telehouse or any of the large Colo/Interconnection points or wherever. This project gets the spooks precisely nothing as far as I can see.

    5. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is a MESH network doesn't have large, centralised interconnection points. And MESH networks are hovering on the brink of wide adoption. So, by pre-supplying an adequate wide-area wifi network, the main impetus to participate in a mesh disappears, and meshing remains the domain of a minority of tech geeks.

    6. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by Angostura · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Every mesh network I've seen employs at least one backhaul to enable Internet connectivity. Now, unless you believe that there will be a wealth of intra-mesh communication that the spooks will want to see, the backhaul is where they will tap.

    7. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      I think that's the problem. I don't think it's a good idea to have your competitor's consumer connection be the backhaul, that's kind of predatory anyway. Not only that, the competitor can knock you out of service once they crack down on people that are "sharing" connections to a competitor's mesh.

    8. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by Ed+Avis · · Score: 1

      Um... you do know to treat all internet traffic as insecure by default? With the thickness of tinfoil hat you seem to be wearing, I would have assumed you use ssh and https anyway.

      --
      -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
    9. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by dave420 · · Score: 1

      Apart from the obvious security concerns of having unknown software sniffing packets, etc. Even encrypted traffic can be intercepted by substitution of keys. At least with a known provider there are regulations regarding what can and can not happen.

    10. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, but endpoint encryption doesn't prevent traffic analysis (who is connecting to who), at least not without further measures.

    11. Re:That's how San Fran et all should have done it by flappinbooger · · Score: 1

      Given the somewhat limited choices in my area I was, during a very frustrating 2 weeks where both my home and work ISP's were struggling, considering what it would take to start "my own" ISP.

      Get a T1 or T3, use a wireless mesh to spread it, everyone's happy.

      Unfortunately, although I don't know it to be fact, I think both my work ISP (DSL) and my home (cable) ultimately use shoddy ATT copper which was the root cause of both ISP's to be intermittent for that 2 week period. So, if I were to get a T3 it would probably be on ATT copper, no?

      --
      Flappinbooger isn't my real name
  9. this should be stopped dead in its tracks! by siddesu · · Score: 4, Funny

    damned bleeding heart pirate and crime promoters, these telcos, how dare they muddy the waters of evidence-gathering against all those copyright-thieving artist-income-depriving file-sharing child-porn distributing criminals?

  10. Some US providers try/tried too... by olden · · Score: 3, Informative

    Some providers in the US also try/tried that, starting as early as 2003, and usually hoping that non-customers would pay $$ to access their network through such user-provided "open" wi-fi APs. I don't think this worked overly well so far though...
    http://www.sonic.net/hotspots/
    http://www.speakeasy.net/netshare/learnmore/

    1. Re:Some US providers try/tried too... by empaler · · Score: 1

      According to the Fon maps, the US is pretty well set there, depending on where you look, of course.

    2. Re:Some US providers try/tried too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speakeasy is a bit different in that I control who can use my router. It basically is letting me be a mini ISP. I can tell my neighbor hey for $5/mo, $10/mo or whatever you can use my wireless signal. He signs up on Speakeasy's page and I get whatever amount we agreed on off my bill every month.

  11. Since there's a camera on every street corner... by MacDork · · Score: 0, Troll

    I don't guess plausible deniability is a problem in Great Britain. They can prove their charges simply by showing a lack of other suspects in the vicinity on video since cameras are ubiquitous. No people around? You're guilty. Sometimes they don't even have trials, they just shoot suspects. I wouldn't step foot in that Nazi police state if you paid me.

  12. The end of the world is nigh! by Siddly · · Score: 1

    Quite an astounding suggestion bearing in mind it's coming from BT. It seems to make good sense to me.

    1. Re:The end of the world is nigh! by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      BT research does a lot of interesting work. They have a group doing some particularly fascinating stuff with emergent properties of networks of simple systems, which is likely to be quite applicable here.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:The end of the world is nigh! by s7uar7 · · Score: 1

      BT employs people with the coolest job title I've ever come across, Futurologist, so if anyone was going to do it, it would be them.

    3. Re:The end of the world is nigh! by Siddly · · Score: 1

      Hopefully their impact is beginning to show, the way BT was, we'd still be using 1200 baud dial-up links. I've supported their mainframes for many years and found their computer staff A1, but the rest of the organisation seemed to lag way behind in thinking and action - I've had heartaches with their telephone and data links over the years.

    4. Re:The end of the world is nigh! by dave420 · · Score: 1

      BT has consitently been on the side of the consumer, but the telecomms regulator (ofcom) frequently steps in to stop BT "abusing" (their words not mine) its position.

  13. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by larry+bagina · · Score: 4, Informative
    how do you read that?

    Other "Foneros" can access the public channel for free, while non-Foneros can pay a few dollars a day to use the access points.

    "If they are prepared to securely share a little of their broadband, they can share the broadband at hundreds of thousands of FON and BT Openzone hotspots today, without paying a penny."

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  14. it's a good idea in all by shvytejimas · · Score: 1

    makes me think there should be a catch. what if your line eventually became saturated by the traffic from the wifi router (if you are located in some popular place), wouldn't you think of upgrading your connection plan?

    1. Re:it's a good idea in all by s7uar7 · · Score: 1

      People accessing your network are limited to a total of 512kbps down; I'm not sure what the upstream is limited to (if at all), but that could be a problem as we only get 448kbits.

  15. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by joe+155 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    firstly, what the hell are you talking about? plausible deniability of what?

    But what really annoys me about your comment is the shear stupidity of it. Is the UK a nazi-esque state? no. If it were would the media be able to report about when the police did make a bad call and kill an innocent man? would the independent police complaints commission investigate? would it be possible to criticise the government at all?...

    So tell me how many death camps does the UK have? I can count... none.

    Calling the UK a Nazi state is an insult to all the people who died because of the Nazi regime.

    --
    *''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
  16. RIAA by nurb432 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Must be screaming in pain now.. Even less of a way to determine who downloaded/uploaded something that is *isp sponsored*.

    Cool.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:RIAA by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2, Informative
      Not really. If you'd R'dTFA[1] you would know that you still need to log on to the network to use it, and have an account with them. They still log exactly who is doing what and where.

      They also allocate 512KB more bandwidth to your link while other people are using it, and only allow the other people to use this, which is quite neat.


      [1] In my defence, I did this before it was on /. and so wasn't aware I was breaking the rules.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:RIAA by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      That should have been in the summary as that wasnt the impression it was giving.

      Well, my wifi is still wide open.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    3. Re:RIAA by ewhenn · · Score: 1

      They also allocate 512KB more bandwidth to your link while other people are using it, and only allow the other people to use this, which is quite neat.


      Your bandwidth is limited by your provisioning file. To change the bandwidth you need to get a new Prov. file. To get a new provisioning file, you need to reboot your modem.

      Yeah, just what I want, my modem randomly rebooting to fuck with my bandwidth caps when I'm downloading something or playing a game. Thanks, but no thanks BT.
    4. Re:RIAA by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      From how I read the article, it sounded like you would plug one of these boxes in in place of an existing modem. You would then get another 512KB of bandwidth allotted, but only the VPN would a allowed to make use of this.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    5. Re:RIAA by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      They also allocate 512KB more bandwidth to your link while other people are using it
      i.e. they artificialy limit you to 512KB less than your link could do, and use this for other people.
      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
  17. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by JamesRose · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If you're an American, then look very closely at your own system before attacking ours, if you aren't then please, go, research your own country anyway, because there is no government where bad things aren't happening, and instead of sitting on a forum attacking another country's system go away and fix your own first please. We may loose small amounts of freedom, but there are countries where they don't have free schooling, free health care, a minimum wage, support for the unemployed and one of the riches populations in the world. I accept things are getting worse, but I know where we started from. Tell me, if the man you referred to running towards an underground train with a backpack on shortly after severeal suicide bombings had been a suicide bomber too, would you like to explain to the hundreds of casualties, deaths and relatives why the armed police there to protect them didn't shoot? The percentages say, it was better for that man to die than to risk the hundreds, and as a result we also live a more concious society of these incidents which in itself helps protect us.

  18. Wi-Fi proof of use by Wowsers · · Score: 1

    The problem with this system idea is, under current UK law, if you park your car / walk past a persons home and piggy-back off their Wi-Fi signal, you could be arrested and charged for theft of bandwidth under some weird Communications Act. Now of you have these access points, how would an ordinary (usually incompetent) policeman know it is being used by people not "stealing"? Or someone could put up a logo of the scheme outside a home and then point the police that they are not stealing bandwidth - when they actually are. Who's going to know?

    Another hair brained scheme by a communications company and regulator hell-bent on not investing in the infrastructure for a better network and instead trying to get everything on the cheap.

    --
    Take Nobody's Word For It.
    1. Re:Wi-Fi proof of use by janrinok · · Score: 1

      No, there is a big difference between the two. The situation that you describe is where someone uses a network to which he has no authorisation, without obtaining permission. That is illegal in the UK. The situation in TFA is where you have an account with BT and are authorised to use any access point which is part of the system. If you can log on, you have a user name and password, and therefore are authorised. You are paying to be a member of the network but you are free to choose which access point you use. The point that you are contesting is that if might make the job of detection more difficult. So what? When the police have reasonable suspicion they can question an individual and ascertain that he has a user name and password and therefore is not committing a crime - much as they can ask you to produce your driver's licence within a specific period of time at a police station of your choosing. I don't see this new development as being something which they cannot cope with.

      --
      Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
    2. Re:Wi-Fi proof of use by pjt33 · · Score: 1

      A driver's licence is a standardised form of documentation. How many policemen do you think will be able to verify whether I'm telling the truth when I say that I have a username and password? In particular, if I'm using Linux, how many will be able to work out where to look? And what's to stop me from faking the interface?

    3. Re:Wi-Fi proof of use by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      Now of you have these access points, how would an ordinary (usually incompetent) policeman know it is being used by people not "stealing"? Or someone could put up a logo of the scheme outside a home and then point the police that they are not stealing bandwidth - when they actually are. Who's going to know?

      Is it BT's business to make the police's job easier?

      As it stands, the assumption is that an open wireless network is not an invitation to use it freely. Hence the recent decision. If BT fill the country with genuinely open access points, the assumption no longer holds, as there are reasonable grounds to believe that an access point is intentionally open to all. That makes it harder for the police, but why should BT care about that?

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
    4. Re:Wi-Fi proof of use by janrinok · · Score: 1

      Nothing, but what is to stop you from faking your driving licence?

      --
      Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
    5. Re:Wi-Fi proof of use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it a hair brained idea by the ISP or a hair brained law? Anyway, the ISP is requiring you to login w/ a username/pass which means you are authorized, so the law does not come into play.

    6. Re:Wi-Fi proof of use by pjt33 · · Score: 1
      Apart from lack of inclination, at least the following:
      • The necessity of doing a good job, because as I said previously it's standardised, which means that people who handle a lot of them will subconsciously notice if it isn't a good job.
      • Following on from that, the expense and difficulty. I don't have paper stock with a DVLA watermark or equipment for making it. I haven't a clue how I'd achieve the effect of the gold lettering on the card.
      • I suspect that if you take your licence to the police station they check it against the DVLA database.
    7. Re:Wi-Fi proof of use by Richard_J_N · · Score: 1

      Is there any protocol to explain which is which? I've just set up a wireless network, which is deliberately open, and I'm happy for people to make reasonable use of this. These days, I'd expect that anyone who has an open wifi network is leaving it open deliberately (and the burden of proof would be on the other side).

      Obviously, we don't trust the "inside" of our network, but as well as providing a public service, some plausible deniability is useful :-)

  19. Not only in the UK by msmikkol · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wippies in Finland (http://www.wippies.com/) is doing a similar thing. They give a free WiFi box (among other things) to users who operate an access point and share their broadband connection with other Wippies members.

    --
    The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error.
    -Bertolt Brecht
    1. Re:Not only in the UK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The box creates three different Wlan network (private, public and UMA). Homeuser uses the private network (and his own ISP's IP), public network is reserved for other wippies users (and apparently users who are willing to pay for a small fee in the future). The public network routes through wippies servers with VPN connection so roaming users are identified in case of illegal actions. The system is still in Beta stage though.

  20. So lets see.... by SirLurksAlot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You share your bandwidth with someone else and the ISP pockets a little extra money if that someone doesn't happen to be a current customer? Yes, according to the article the other users will be on a different channel, so your service isn't interrupted, but no matter how you look at it you're still splitting your pipe. Also, since this scheme involves a new customer paying for access on your (already paid for) connection why not apply the extra money as a credit on your bill? I'm paying a pretty good chunk on my broadband (Time Warner), but I wouldn't mind this setup if it meant my bill was going to be lower.

    --
    God, schmod. I want my monkey man!
    1. Re:So lets see.... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2, Informative

      but no matter how you look at it you're still splitting your pipe No you're not. That's the entire point of this system. When other people are connected, BT (who own almost all of the ADSL infrastructure in the UK, including the last mile) will allocate another 512KB of bandwidth to your connection. This will then be split between the other people who are using your connection.

      I just had a quick look at TFA, and apparently it wasn't the same article I read earlier today detailing this scheme, which made no mention of FON but did explain the extra bandwidth provision.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:So lets see.... by SirLurksAlot · · Score: 1

      Do you have a link? If the ISP actually provisioned extra bandwidth it wouldn't be so bad. It seems like it would be easier to simply provision the line for the extra speed if they are a "sharing" customer, rather than allocating it "on the fly" so to speak.

      --
      God, schmod. I want my monkey man!
    3. Re:So lets see.... by s7uar7 · · Score: 1

      No, that's not the case. They limit the shared bandwidth to 512kbps and prioritise your traffic, but that comes out of your downstream connection. Consumer ADSL lines are mostly already provisioned at the highest bandwidth the line will support.

    4. Re:So lets see.... by empaler · · Score: 1

      My impression of the functionality of the Fon router is that it sets up a VPN to isolate the "guest" traffic from the "owner" traffic. This would add a security layer that makes sense.
      If so, they could configure the BRAS & DSLAM to not allow the "owner" to exceed his normal allocation while still having the line trained up on x+512, where x is the kbit count the "owner" pays for.

    5. Re:So lets see.... by jrumney · · Score: 1

      BT (who own almost all of the ADSL infrastructure in the UK, including the last mile)

      I wouldn't be surprised if BT own less than half the ADSL infrastructure in the UK now. Sky/Easynet, AOL, Tiscali/Pipex, Carphone Warehouse, Be, C&W/Bulldog and Orange all have their own LLU infrastructure in a significant number of exchanges, starting with the busiest ones of course.

    6. Re:So lets see.... by 644bd346996 · · Score: 1

      Really? What country are you talking about? Here in the US, the telco won't sell me more than 6Mbps when the line can handle 8. And many people opt for the slower, cheaper connections going down to 768kbps. I'd be very surprised if more than 2% of the customers were within 512kbps of the line capacity.

    7. Re:So lets see.... by Monkier · · Score: 1

      why not apply the extra money as a credit on your bill? this is exactly what Australian ISP iiNet is partnering with TOMIZONE for: Tomizone signs up with iiNet.
    8. Re:So lets see.... by IndieKid · · Score: 1

      It's kind of a moot point, as BT Total Broadband customers (the ones who can sign up for this service) must be on BT infrastructure.

      Also, exchanges in cities are the ones most likely to have been through LLU as I understand it (and as you imply). Cities are the places most likely to already have Wi-Fi coverage, so the fact that you're likely to get more BT customers out in the countryside where there it's less likely you'll find a standard hotspot would seem to another benefit of the scheme.

    9. Re:So lets see.... by s7uar7 · · Score: 1

      ADSL in the UK is sold as 'Up to 8Mbps' and the rate is adapted automatically to whatever the line will stably handle. It wouldn't therefore be possible to burst up an extra 512Kbps as the connection would start dropping out.

  21. another point by ILuvRamen · · Score: 0

    You know I've heard of companies with seriously fast connections blasting like a mile of broadband around their building and only giving their employees access to it to encourage them to live within a mile and cut down on commuting time and carbon emmissions. So yeah free broadband wireless for employees who would only use it during not so busy offers when they're not at work because not at work means there's not people working at work to use the connection. Lol it's complicated but basically the traffic thing takes care of itself is what I'm saying. It's way more common to just hook up a partial T1 to employees houses if they live within a mile but wireless is cool too.
    So in other words, this is sort of a green idea too if they do it right :D except for the whole open to the public thing which I think is stupid cuz people will just file share on it 24/7

    --
    Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
    1. Re:another point by empaler · · Score: 1

      Partial T1? A fraction of 1.5 mbit?
      Wow. I'm glad my boss isn't that stingy.

    2. Re:another point by Ant+P. · · Score: 1

      T1 for a residential line sounds like a weird setup... wouldn't it be cheaper to just give them a fibre line and speed-limit it at the server end?

    3. Re:another point by ILuvRamen · · Score: 0

      maybe it was T3 lol.

      --
      Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
  22. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by meringuoid · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Tell me, if the man you referred to running towards an underground train with a backpack on shortly after severeal suicide bombings had been a suicide bomber too, would you like to explain to the hundreds of casualties, deaths and relatives why the armed police there to protect them didn't shoot? The percentages say, it was better for that man to die than to risk the hundreds, and as a result we also live a more concious society of these incidents which in itself helps protect us.

    You are fucking joking, right?

    Percentages, is it? OK. How many people wear backpacks in London? Millions. How many people run for a train? Millions. Of those, how many are suicide bombers? Four so far. So, shoot anyone wearing a backpack who is running for a train, on the off-chance they might be a bomber?

    Moreover, despite the initial lies put about by the police, de Menezes was not carrying a bag of any kind. Nor was he wearing a heavy coat.

    --
    Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  23. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by Buelldozer · · Score: 1, Informative

    Whaaaa? How did this get modded insightful?

    Fon has three types of users: Linux, Bill, and Alien. If you sign up as a Linux and share your wifi you get free wifi at any other Fon access point.

    If you are a Bill you make a bit of money when another Bill or Alien, logs onto your Fon access point. Conversely if you roam onto another Fon AP you are expected to pay at a reduced rate.

    An Alien is anyone who is not part of the Fon network. They can still access any Fon AP but they have to pay to do it.

    My point is that if you are a "La Fonera" and share your wifi free you get wifi free. Sharing is good.

  24. BT's FAQ by Jacco+de+Leeuw · · Score: 2, Informative
    As posted on the FON blog:

    Q:If I am a Fonero and have BT do I need to sign up?
    A: Yes

    Q:I am a Fonero but not a BT customer, can I access BT Fonspots?
    A:Yes, all Foneros can use BT Fon Hotsposts and vice versa

    Q:I am a Fonero but not a BT customer, can I use BT Openzone hotspots.
    A: No, but if you had BT Total broadband then Yes.

    So, FON users still do NOT have free access to BT's commercial hotspots ("BT Openzone") UNLESS they are also paying BT broadband customers ("BT Total"). Bummer. The only thing new here is that a major ISP does not mind (and in fact encourages) the use of FON routers.
    --
    -------
    Warning: Slashdot may contain traces of nuts.
  25. Anti-RIAA by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Talk about the perfect excuse that it wasn't me sharing music over my WiFi router. It was someone else -- and BT make it all possible. Certainly an RIAA nightmare in the making.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
    1. Re:Anti-RIAA by funkatron · · Score: 1

      I would think being on the other side of a great big ocean would be more of a nightmare for the RIAA

      --
      "Welcome to our world. We are the wasted youth. And we are the future too." Yes, I know these are stupid lyrics.
    2. Re:Anti-RIAA by janrinok · · Score: 1

      No, to use the system you still have to log on with a username and password. They will know who is downloading what. How does that make sharing any different from what exists today?

      --
      Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
    3. Re:Anti-RIAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The RIAA rarely has a strong court case (they usually try to tie an identity of a person by IP). If the person logs into a person's wifi even with a username/pw (and it still uses the same IP as the person who runs it) they can't tie it to the individual who downloaded it.

    4. Re:Anti-RIAA by janrinok · · Score: 1

      I cannot see the problem - this is not being designed for the benefit of the RIAA or any other US monster, particularly as this is in the UK. But, if you log on using your username and password and then download music X, the ISP will know that you did so. Now whether they will be required to keep records of your connections (probably not, this is the UK not the USA) in additional to simply the fact that you logged on at a specific time, or whether the IP will remain the same for the extra 512kb allowance rather than the main subscriber's portion I do not know.

      --
      Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
  26. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by Neon+Aardvark · · Score: 1

    Tell me, if the man you referred to running towards an underground train with a backpack on shortly after severeal suicide bombings had been a suicide bomber too

    He wasn't wearing a backpack, and he wasn't running. Neither was the train driver, who also had a gun pointed at him, but wasn't executed on the spot like this poor guy.

    You don't really know what you're talking about, do you?

    --
    Azural - instrumentals
  27. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1
    A camera on every corner? Really? Interesting. I just looked out of my window, and there were no cameras. The nearest CCTV camera to my house is actually on the street corner though; it's in the corner shop, and privately operated (by the way, most of the statistics right wing newspapers here quote for CCTV cameras do include these, and these are the same figures that are repeated internationally).

    As for shooting suspects, the example you give is over two years old. At the time, it was a huge scandal, and was in the mainstream press for weeks afterwards. How often do the police in your country accidentally shoot an innocent person? If you live in the USA, then you'll find it's a lot more often, helped by the fact that your police are allowed to carry guns on a regular basis.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  28. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by s7uar7 · · Score: 1

    The way it works has changed since you last checked. You can now be a Bill - getting paid for people who access your network - and access other FON APs for free.

  29. Less reliance on ISP's? by skeftomai · · Score: 1

    If internet connectivity were meshed out like this in a widespread manner, could much of the reliance on ISP's be done away with?

  30. wow by j0nb0y · · Score: 1

    Amazing. A telecom with vision. That's completely unheard of over here in the states. The only thing our telecoms can envision is the almighty dollar.

    --
    If you had super powers, would you use them for good, or for awesome?
    1. Re:wow by anilg · · Score: 1

      You make it sound like BT isnt looking for $. It is. Lots of it. Vision and $ aren't mutually exclusive (r close to it)

      --
      http://dilemma.gulecha.org - My philospohical short film.
    2. Re:wow by blackchiney · · Score: 1

      That's not completely true. The smarter companies do have some vision (of dollars) for the future. Verizon is ripping out miles of copper and replacing with fiber. They know the customers want it and they realized this will kill 3rd party provisioning. Now they don't have to share that line at all.

  31. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by smchris · · Score: 1

    Philosophically the Nazis pretty much sent "greatest happiness to the greatest number" up in smoke. A meaningful post-WWII ethics has to value each individual to be worthy as a morality.

  32. Sounds great.. but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So what happens when one person continually uses your broadband?

    1. Re:Sounds great.. but... by janrinok · · Score: 2, Informative

      They only get to use the additional 512kb that is given to those who subscribe to the scheme. That 512kb can only be used by other users, not the subscriber himself. His connection remains at the maximum speed that he is entitled to under his existing contract. But it explains this in TFA....

      --
      Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
  33. Time-Warner is NOT doing this where I live by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Earlier reports said Time-Warner was looking into this.

    Time-Warner is NOT doing this any time soon in the major metro area where I live.

    Is it doing it where you live?

  34. Didn't anyone read the article? by funpet · · Score: 0

    When you "securely share" your Wifi on this FON service, you are only sharing it with other FON users. It's the "unlimited txt messaging to everyone on our network" scheme brought to wifi.

  35. Just two questions... by hack++slash · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you do sign up to the scheme then:

    1) with the ever growing list of people getting done for illegal activity, ie downloading mp3s/illegal porn/'hacking' etc., will you be exempt from any charges relating to criminal activity through someone using your router?

    2) is the broadband service provided truly unlimited?

    I can't see many people in their right minds signing up to such a service if they weren't protected from neighbours doing heavy downloading and the drive-by wifi'ers downloading stuff deemed illegal. Because on one end of the scale I wouldn't want additional charges for bandwidth use or have the speed restricted due to too someone else using it too much, and the other end I wouldn't want to be arrested because someone else used my internet connection through the wifi router for criminal activities.

    --
    To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
    1. Re:Just two questions... by IndieKid · · Score: 3, Informative
      From the FAQ:

      What happens if someone uses my broadband connection to access an illegal site? Can I prove that it wasn't me accessing the sites?
      Yes, their access to the internet will be through a separate channel, so it is easy to identify that the access was through the visitor channel.
  36. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by jmpeax · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nor was he running - that, too, was a lie.

  37. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by MacDork · · Score: 1

    look very closely at your own system before attacking ours

    My nationality is irrelevant. Just because you can point to another country and say "They're bad too" doesn't make yours any better. That's an appeal to common practice.

    Step one is admitting you have a problem. You obviously haven't done that.

  38. When we look back in 2 years by paulistanos · · Score: 1

    i believe well see how much this changed the broadband landscape even if only it forced others to make wifi more available. the FON router splits your broadband so much of the negatives mentioned here dont apply and with future broadband speeds we wont care about sharing a little. i found plenty of private open wifi points in london and new york so i am confident there are enough people out there willing to be part of the FON project. interesting that BT will make it easier to make skype calls on the move

    1. Re:When we look back in 2 years by Annymouse+Cowherd · · Score: 1

      No, there are just hundreds of thousands of people with wireless routers that don't know what wireless encryption is.

  39. Censorship Nazi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you some kind of censorship nazi?

  40. since there's a dweeb on every corner who hasn't . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    ..read some history, I'll help out. The english invented the modern death camp, and used them extensively in south africa during the boer wars,against all comers, including women and children, and in India when they were trying to get their independence. They also used the quaint punishment called "shot from guns", go look it up, how they treated "bloody wogs". I am sure the toffs found it amusing. In addition, after ww2, they were responsible for running open air in the winter concentration camps for german pows who were *not* repatriated, and held in the open until they starved and froze to death. Starved and frozen to death. Not SS troops, just regular german wehrmacht conscripts. By the tens of thousands. Their capitalist pigs also stripped ireland of food, leading to mass famine there (and you wonder why they wanted independence all the way to fighting for it, and perhaps a spot of revenge)



    Read some history about your own nation before you claim polly puregood status. And if you want more, there's plenty in the books where those atrocities came from. You don't get to have a rise and fall in empire without massive exploitation of people and general genocide action. How about the opium wars, hmm? How about keeping hess on ice forever, to keep him from blabbing about all the high level plutocrats who supported the rise of the third reich, including a lot of your "royals"? How much do you want really, location of todays camps? Who knows, but you can bet they have them, buried under some military reservation someplace. The english have always had a brutal violent government hiding behind a veneer of false civility. The people there are still called "subjects", that should be clue enough.



    If you want something more current, their intelligence "agents" had operatives inside the ira who went along with bombings on their own soil, and kneecappings and so on, accepting collateral damage to further political aims of helping along the big brother terror based police state (the US learned from those actions sad to say). They are also covering up the real events of 7-7 (which was an inside job, most obviously, again, to help bring about a stronger police state, just like 9-11 was in the US).
    If you want to read history, start with a sense of neutrality, you'll find most governments are a pack of lying murdering thugs for the most part who use historical revisionism in the schools and media to whitewash their negative points, ie,. mass brainwashing, and sounds like you have fallen for it. Control of the economies and politics of large nations (any nations really) is just too tempting for the psychopaths to ignore. The filthy murdering oily shit floats to the top, they get the power, orders from those sorts float downstream.

  41. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by empaler · · Score: 1
    Are you trolling? Did you even read what happened? A bunch of edgy police officers overreacted to something the day after their work place had been subjected to a terrorist attack. They're only human, for gods sakes, and they reacted as scared humans tend to when something unexpected happens.
    Every day, 30'000 children die of stupid little things that could have been easily prevented; I know this in no way makes his family's loss any less, but that's a fact. Another fact is that none of the families of the 30'000 children are offered any sort of apology nor compensation for their loss; more likely, they are themselves dying in the dirt.
    Compare that to this:

    The day after the shooting, the Metropolitan Police identified the victim as Jean Charles de Menezes, and said that he had not been carrying explosives, nor was he connected in any way to the attempted bombings. They issued an apology describing the incident as "a tragedy, and one that the Metropolitan Police Service regrets."

    The de Menezes' family condemned the shooting and rejected the apology. His grandmother said there was "no reason to think he was a terrorist." It was reported that the dead man's family were offered almost £585,000 compensation. While I strongly oppose the British government's stance on human rights and privacy boundaries, these were just frightened little security officers who did wrong. It was not Blackwater.

    Btw, Godwin is weeping.
  42. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by Rinisari · · Score: 1

    Godwin at T+14. Getting better.

  43. QOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the security model really works, and my ISP doesn't limit bandwidth, this might work. However, when I'm using my home router, I'd like my packets to get priority over anyone elses. Can the FON router be configured with QOS for my packets?

  44. Legal immunity for sharers by wikinerd · · Score: 1

    WiFi sharers should have official legal immunity. What if someone uses a community WiFi signal to do something that attracts the attention of NSA et al? Sharers should coordinate to encourage new laws protecting people who share connections. The owner of a connection should NOT be held liable for the actions of others through their connection that are being done without their knowledge.

  45. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by SnoopJeDi · · Score: 1

    You sound upset as if this is some kind of under-handed method destroying all we know and love.

    In fact, this is potentially an answer to the cost problems in setting up large-scale wireless access that have been featured here on /. recently. Sure, it's not exactly what people are looking for, but it's a step towards a larger infrastructure, I suppose.

  46. 5uck m4 ph47 p1p3 by empaler · · Score: 1

    10/10 mbit for only 270 Danish Kroner. In USD. In GBP.

    I could get 20/20 for a little more than twice that, but I won't until I get some more storage space.

    If the router didn't cost a fortune compared to how useful this would be for me, I might get three. Given that my awesome boss has given me a mobile 3G modem with near-unlimited data usage, I think I'll manage without, though.

  47. Did anyone else read this as by SadKingBilly · · Score: 1

    Corporate Encouragement For Sharing Your WiFe?

  48. [offtopic] Your sig by empaler · · Score: 1

    -- ---- Booth was a patriot ---- That generally applies to everyone who wants the best for his country. Why point to a random assassin and say he was one?
    1. Re:[offtopic] Your sig by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      He was willing to give his life, and did.

      Will you?

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    2. Re:[offtopic] Your sig by entrylevel · · Score: 1

      Fucking aye.

      --
      Karma: Incomprehensible (Mostly affected by posting at +5, reading at -1, and metamoderating everything unfair.)
    3. Re:[offtopic] Your sig by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Ah yes. Willing to give his life.

      Like Mohamed Atta and his pals?

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    4. Re:[offtopic] Your sig by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      In their country, they are patriots. Remember, history is written by the victors.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  49. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by MacDork · · Score: 1

    firstly, what the hell are you talking about? plausible deniability of what?

    Come on now Joe, everyone here understands the open wifi defense. "Your honor, my wifi was open. It could have been anybody."

    But what really annoys me about your comment is the shear stupidity of it. Is the UK a nazi-esque state?

    In free countries, if the police were to tackle, pin, and then shoot a suspect in the back of the head seven times execution style, those police would go to trial and be put away for murder. Did any of those police go to trial for murder? Of course not, the police state ruled there was insufficient evidence for a murder trial. The train driver was there with a gun shoved in his face, so I guess eye witness testimony is insufficient in the UK.

    So tell me how many death camps does the UK have? I can count... none.

    Nazi Germany didn't have death camps until the last couple of years of the war, when their plans for world domination started to sour. Nobody really knew of them until the war ended.

    Calling the UK a Nazi state is an insult to all the people who died because of the Nazi regime.

    No, what the UK has become is an insult to all the people who fought and died to protect it from the Nazi regime.

  50. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by MacDork · · Score: 1

    How often do the police in your country accidentally shoot an innocent person?

    I don't call tackling, pinning, and then shooting someone seven times execution style in the back of the head "accidental." If you do, that say something truly disturbing about you. To call the incident "accidental" is as profoundly stupid as saying "accidental gang rape." What happened in London was not in any way accidental. A man was murdered in cold blood, by the police, in front of at least one witness, and the state declared "insufficient evidence" for a murder trial. It's a horrendous miscarriage of justice, and YOU are defending it!!

  51. Okay, good job ... by ScrewMaster · · Score: 1

    that's one down. Now if we can just get Comcast to go for it ...

    --
    The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
  52. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What makes you think the Nazis were interested in "greatest happiness to the greatest number"? They justified war and genocide on the basis that some people just didn't count as worthy of moral consideration at all, not that suffering was outweighed by an increase in happiness elsewhere.

  53. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by MikeFM · · Score: 1

    I have a FON AP and access is free for anyone although they need a FON account to use it.

    --
    At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  54. Who pays the bills when the RIAA comes knockin'? by rebullandvodka · · Score: 1

    I don't understand how someone can share their AP without fear of someone doing something nefarious over their connection. I'd be more willing to participate once there is more precedence over who's going to get busted (not me).

  55. Cool.. but how about Security? by crf00 · · Score: 1
    That's cool, bittorrent and anything else can now be completely anonymous.

    But how about security? Considering hacking through LAN, hacking without leaving any trace, DNS poisoning, packet sniffing, etc etc...

  56. RTFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can the FON router be configured with QOS for my packets? It already does.
  57. Umm, I'm not impressed by cheros · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I got that FON adaptor with a Skype phone, and it took me all of 30 seconds to decide not to install it.

    Given the current security climate I'm really not going to give someone a chance to (a) identify where I live and if I'm around (look at their status info on the web - having an access point means you've got kit to steal) and (b) to put a remote controlled listening device on my traffic. The FON adaptor is a small Linux box, and I don't know what it does. Worse, someone else controls it and can flash the thing at any time.

    Nope. Not interested in contributing to an 802.11 version of Echelon :-).

    --
    Insert .sig here. Send no money now. Owner may sue, contents will settle. Batteries not included.
    1. Re:Umm, I'm not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll be missed.

      Oh, wait. No ones cares.

  58. Re:Who pays the bills when the RIAA comes knockin' by JoelKatz · · Score: 1

    "I don't understand how someone can share their AP without fear of someone doing something nefarious over their connection. I'd be more willing to participate once there is more precedence over who's going to get busted (not me)."

    If this were the United States, you would be perfectly safe (theoretically) so long as you comply with the DMCA safe harbor provisions. However, doing that is a pain in the ass. I think you're probably safe anyway, since you're just extending someone else's network and they are still responsible for access control and so on.

    However, there is certainly a risk that you might have to fend off a lawsuit regardless of how clear it is that you are in the right. I wonder if BT is going to assume that risk on behalf of their customers. Seems like it would make sense since they already assume this risk for the access they extend to these same people.

  59. I prefer a more Grassroots approach... by wellingj · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why do we need a teloco to allow us to do this? DIY is always better.

  60. This makes so much sense... by cmacb · · Score: 1

    that I'm sure Verizon will be all over it.

    Would someone notify company officials that I have commenced holding my breath?

  61. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Congratulations! You got his point!

  62. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 1

    Are those actually the names they use? That's great.

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  63. Available in the US by DogDude · · Score: 1

    Sure, some ISP's may have tried it, but the exact same network is available in the US. I've used it several times, each time as a paying customer. Loved it. If I lived in an urban area, I'd share my connection, as well.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  64. Re:fuck your copypasta by nbowman · · Score: 1

    this gets modded down before the OP... wtf?! *prepares for his own mod-down*

  65. Re:5uck m4 ph47 p1p3 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Psh, 10mbit. I have gigabit to the world for only $20k a year. Ahh... Internet2 :p

  66. Risky Business? by Zebra_X · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one that doesn't want other, unknown pc's on my network?

    I mean, one of the nice aspects of having NAT and a "firewall" is additional security on your network. Now we are expected to let strangers with god knows what on their PC's connect to our networks and poke at our "special" ports.

    I for one don't share my special ports with just anyone.

    Of course for the really paranoid you can put a nat between your wifi router and the rest of your network, but that just seems to be a bit much.

    1. Re:Risky Business? by inviolet · · Score: 1

      Am I the only one that doesn't want other, unknown pc's on my network?

      Linksys gives specific instructions on how to cascade a second wireless router in order to create a public WAP with a private WAP behind it. So, it'll cost you like $50 to set it up.

      --
      FATMOUSE + YOU = FATMOUSE
  67. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by Ailure · · Score: 1

    Linus, not Linux.

    Otherwise yes, they do.

  68. "So it is like communism, but the good kind"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's like communism, but the good kind
    So, we'll be starving millions of Ukrainians to death then,
    And having children shoot their parents in the head,
    And killing anyone with glasses?

    And, the New York Times will be covering it up and winning Pulitzer Prizes for doing so?

    1. Re:"So it is like communism, but the good kind"? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1
      No, and we won't have a Cultural Revolution or the killing fields either.

      GP said communism, not "Communism". You know, the kind where you just share for the good of all, not the one about dictatorship of the proletariat and other nasty stuff.

    2. Re:"So it is like communism, but the good kind"? by dk.r*nger · · Score: 1

      GP said communism, not "Communism". You know, the kind where you just share for the good of all, not the one about dictatorship of the proletariat and other nasty stuff.


      Yeah, that kind of "communism" is called "capitalism", since it is based on the actions of free actors working with their private property. Capitalists can (and often do) choose to share some of their stuff "for the good of all", even without getting an immediate ROI, and it's still capitalism.

      Some communism might manifest itself as "goodness", but it's nowhere near a general rule. Communism ALWAYS includes the abolishment of private property, either voluntarily or by force. If you have a FON router, it's still your prerogative to turn it off or cap the shared bandwidth, because the (usage-rights to the) broadband line still belongs to you.
  69. Hide your router in a lake! by hack++slash · · Score: 1

    I knew I'd read something about the FON network before, The Register covered a story about FON users protesting about anyone being able to have 15 minutes of free access through their router without having to sign up to the service:

    June 29 2007 - Fon VoIP network being disrupted by protest over Wi-Fi adverts

    And there's still a heap of wifi users who have hidden their router in a lake

    --
    To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
  70. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

    Such a good idea. The few dollars a day for non subscribers as well. Wifi is incredibly unreasonably priced. I'd love to have Internet at the airport but I just looked up a couple of the local competitors. Rogers offers 15 cents a minute or ninety minutes per month for $4 (10 cents a minute after that). That's if you're already a cell subscriber with them.

  71. Re:5uck m4 ph47 p1p3 by jamar0303 · · Score: 1

    Whoa- I want a boss like that.

    --
    OSx86 FTW
  72. That's how San Fran IS doing it, actually. by freejls · · Score: 1

    I'm posting this through SF's small-but-growing grassroots WiFi project called Free The Net. It's a venture headed up by Meraki, a company that makes access points for WiFi-meshing purposes. As far as I understand, all bandwidth is provided by AT&T. Meraki sets up the main APs, and then asks users who can see the signal to set up a repeater somewhere, such as outside their house or on a street-facing window. The repeaters and APs discover the network and can automatically provide redundancy if at all possible. If you're living in the right neighborhoods, it works pretty well. Best part vs. the method mentioned in the article: everything is free. No ports are closed, no traffic denied. Downside: There's a frame at the top of your browser which links to news articles (why? are they getting revenue through it?), although I'm sure it could easily be hacked around. Other downside: the ISP is AT&T.

    I know people are probably familiar with the Google/Earthlink deal falling through in SF, but this somewhat unknown project is taking off; so far, I'm pretty impressed.

  73. Re:Who pays the bills when the RIAA comes knockin' by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

    Actually,Here in the US I'd be more worried about someone surfing kiddie porn on your connection,which gets YOU hauled off in cuffs,your computers seized and ripped apart,and three years worth of trials trying to prove your innocent.After all,anything to do "with the children" here = guilty until proven innocent. McMartin,anyone?

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  74. Re:5uck m4 ph47 p1p3 by empaler · · Score: 1

    Whoa- I want a boss like that. He's also paying my landline, but local law requires that it be taxed as disposable income. :-/
  75. Re:Who pays the bills when the RIAA comes knockin' by Zombywuf · · Score: 1

    Here in the UK it's pretty much the same, if not worse. Google for Operation ORE to see why it's probably worse here. Hell, we had mobs roaming the streets attacking paediatricians not so long ago.

    --
    If you can read this you've gone too far.
  76. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by Zombywuf · · Score: 1

    There is a risk in this. What are the chances of being able to use these FON routers to set up a mesh network? My guess would be nil. What BT may be hoping will happen is that everyone gets hooked on their wireless, and ends up forced to use their tubes to get it. The dream of wireless everywhere is that it makes telcos obsolete for the last mile segment of the network, i.e. it removes their market stranglehold. This could be BT trying to pre-empt a Google+700MHz band style thing happening in the UK.

    --
    If you can read this you've gone too far.
  77. You don't "lockdown" a system. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Lockdown" isn't a verb. Come on... Spelling matters.

  78. Re:Who pays the bills when the RIAA comes knockin' by computational+super · · Score: 1
    anything to do "with the children" here = guilty until proven innocent.McMartin,anyone?

    Actually, McMartin was 20 years ago. These days it's "guilty even after proven innocent" (you'll just be "released on a technicality" and somehow manage to accidentally slip and fall into a noose your neighbors hung from a tree in your front yard).

    --
    Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
  79. look, i can by erlehmann · · Score: 1

    well, FON is *not grassroots, they are neither open nor free. they distribute their routers totally locked down. "pah", the average customer thinks," that won't affect me". only that it does.

    see, FON wants *me* to pay *them* for access to *my neighbour's* wireless. when i asked him to open his AP, he said he couldn't, because if he installed openWRT (or another open firmware) he wouldn't get the benefits FON offers (i never knew if he used them actually).

    also, technically FON requires a direct internet connection. urban wifi would be much more likely to succeed, if they used mesh network strategies (what would mean with even only 20% of APs actually connected to the net, traffic is) like the german freifunk project does. hell, freifunk developers even create new routing protocols. if you wanna see what openWRT and freifunk devs are making possible, check this graph [1] from the german city of leipzig.

    i just cannot see why technical people are falling for this FON scam (other than plain ignorance, of course).

    [1] http://leipzig.freifunk.net/

  80. Re:5uck m4 ph47 p1p3 by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    Irritating Europhobic Danes.

    How much is that in real money then?

    Hey! How do you get the cute link without the [google.com] shit?

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  81. Re:5uck m4 ph47 p1p3 by empaler · · Score: 1

    Wah :-p

    I'm used to buying stuff from UK and US, I don't even think of Euro (hardly ever purchase anything from Euro-bearing countries - seldomly from Germany.

    The [google.com]-shit is something you set in your User Preferences, under Comments. It only changes your own display settings.

    Display Link Domains? (shows the actual domain of any link in brackets)

    [ ] Never show link domains
    [ ] Show the links domain only in recommended situations
    [ ] Always show link domains

  82. Re:Not for free. Charging extra users. by SwedishPenguin · · Score: 1

    FON has nothing to do with BT, it's a separate service that anyone can sign up for. It's pretty popular, I have two FON access points within range of my apartment, and I've used it once when my broadband was down. They charge 10 Euros for five 1 hour passes if you don't have a FON router. (if you have one, it's free)

  83. Happened in France last year by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    Fonero teamed up with Neuf Telecom to do more or less the same deal.

    http://blog.fon.com/en/archive/business/fon-and-neuf-cegetel-begin-rollout-of-new-joint-service.html

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  84. Re:5uck m4 ph47 p1p3 by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but I have "always show link domains" and I didn't see 'em on your two links to google. Weird.

    Now they're back again - looks like a slashdot glitch.

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  85. Re:How the hell by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

    The Jehovah Witnesses are as guilty as the Jews, they both abhor the use of blood in their workship.

    --
    Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
  86. Re:Since there's a camera on every street corner.. by meringuoid · · Score: 1
    Nor was he running - that, too, was a lie.

    As I understood it, the police lied about him running from them, and about him having jumped the ticket barrier (he paid with his Oyster card like anyone else), but he did run once he reached the platform and saw the train there.

    --
    Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  87. Re:Who pays the bills when the RIAA comes knockin' by hairyfeet · · Score: 1
    What is sad is how this "witch hunt" attitude is making it less of a decent world for children. When I was in my twenties if I saw a lost kid crying somewhere my first reaction was to ask the child where his/her parents were and if they couldn't be found take the child to a cashier. Today I would avoid that child like the plague. There is NO WAY as a single male I'm getting within twenty feet of a kid,and there is no way I'd date a woman with young children. It has just gotten too dangerous for a male to have any kind of contact with a child. It is truly sad when you can't even show a little kindness and decency to a little one anymore without being treated like a monster.


    And on topic,is the EU company trying to get everyone to open up their WiFi going to indemnify them if some perv surfs kiddie porn on your connection? If they don't give you some kind of protection in writing you'd have to be insane to take the deal. I don't care if they do offer a share of the profits or the ability to surf anywhere,it's not worth sitting at home wondering if today is the day the cops kick in your door for what some guy did with your connection last month. It is just too damn hard to defend yourself against those kinds of charges in this day and age. And as the previous poster said,if you did prove yourself innocent everyone around you would just believe you "got off on a technicality". It is like no one believes innocent folks can be wrongly accused anymore.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  88. Re:How the hell by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Jehovah Witnesses don't manipulate finances, gain control over large swaths of industry, and manipulate world governments to their benefit, now do they?

    Go crawl in a hole, smelly Jew.