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Facebook and Cisco Offer Check-In Service For Free Wifi
cagraham writes "According to TechCrunch, Facebook and Cisco are now expanding their joint "Facebook Wifi" program nationwide. The service directs customers who connect to a store's wifi to a landing page where they are encouraged to "check-in" to the business in order to be connected. While users can currently opt out of this and still be connected, the "skip this" button is noticeably difficult to find. The free software integrates with businesses existing routers and providers. Facebook provides reports to participating businesses as well, complete with anonymized aggregate data on the demographics of the customers who checked-in."
"Congratulations, we'll give you a service that lots of people offer for free,as long as you earn us money!" - Facebook
At least they don't check you in automatically. Though I'm sure that's next.
Facebook or google pretending they are the internet again. Sorry to any of you that enjoyed the days where there were more than 2 websites.
You mean that if I use internet provided by a business, that my browsing activity might be monitored?
Color me shocked.
We'll check you in anyway
Couldn't one just register a second Facebook account and use that for the check-ins? I don't really care if Facebook knows where "Bob Smith" has gone.
I bet career criminals love this new-ish trend of people voluntarily letting the world know when they are away from their homes and valuables.
Jim's Facebook Timeline -
8/17: Jim bought the newest 80" 3D flatscreen, here's a picture of it in the living room! WOW what a big picture!
9/23: Jim just got a new gold iPhone 5s! FTW!!!
9/28: Jim posted 264 photos taken with his Canon DSLR
10/1: Jim checked in at Bed, Bath, and Beyond to use their wifi! Hello World!
10/1: Jim just found out that while he was at BB&B this morning, somebody cleaned him out! Sad panda :(
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I would use this instead of the mobile data I already pay for because...?
You check in and people automatically know that you're not home. Brilliant. On the other hand, wi-fi is not as useful to me as it once was. The 4G speeds I get seem to be just as fast, or faster, than any wi-fi connection. Plus, I've got at least some security with 4G. No thanks Facebook. Take your "free" wi-fi and stick it where the sun don't shine :-)
Difficult to find? Hardly. I'm all for faulting Facebook when it's deserved, but the "skip check-in" link is in plain sight (link).
On iOS, trying to connect to a captive portal pops a limited version of Safari (no cookies, etc) and on Android and other systems, AFAIK you need to manually open a browser to see the login page.
If you try to connect to a free wifi to only check your email or play an online game, it just doesn't work.
Is there any way to tell a device "Open a browser and load this URL" when they connect to a wifi?
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Not anonymous if you are the only person that day perhaps
Why connect to a free and often slow/overloaded wifi when most people get acceptable 3/4G service around town ? If you have a laptop and you have to get that paper submitted most people just goto a starbucks or McD's.
This, my friends, is where FaceBook starts to actually gain value as a business. I know the comments so far have been snarky - and yes many businesses already provide this for 'free' - but if the end-user experience is consistent this could be fantastic. Hell, if you're using 4Square why not? Before you go into the whole privacy rant remember that you're probably leaving more than enough breadcrumbs and digital fingerprints for someone to track you - telling them where you shop or what places you frequent ...may or not be of concern.
Personally, I think this is a good thing as it could bring consistency to "free WiFi", and improve the experience for the masses.
There, I said it.
Because you can use a laptop without having to pay for tethering on top of what you already pay for mobile data.
Why connect to a free and often slow/overloaded wifi when most people get acceptable 3/4G service around town ?
Because not everybody is willing to pay hundreds of dollars per year for 3/4G, and some people are too shy to ask random individuals to let them tether to their device.
AC is now the proud owner of facebookwifinetwork.com and facebook-wifi-network.com.
As long as it doesn't turn the oxygen off in the room I think I'll be ok for a while without wifi.
Who's going to write an app that auto-feeds those things the right noises so you don't even notice they're meddling with your "intarwebtubes experience"?
I mean, I will need wifi for imap/s and tunnels and things. The internet isn't made up entirely out of world wide webpages, you know.
the "skip this" button is noticeably difficult to find.
Haha, love it.
"I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
Not really a new idea, using facebook likes or check-ins to allow wifi access has been a feature of many captive portals for a while now.
see http://www.recaptive.net/features/facebookgate/ , http://www.cloud4wi.com/social-login to name two off the top of my head.
The only thing now is that facebook is providing a direct authentication return to the access point, currently cisco and Meraki (not mentioned in the summary) and no doubt coming to Aerohive, Aruba etc very soon . They're just making it easier to configure without a third party or your own coding. The only thing is that then is your only social login mechanism, most social login providers give the option of the major players (google, facebook, twitter etc) and some internal mechanism. so a retrograde step
all the comments above speculating on capturing demographic data, posting or checking in on your behalf etc is moot - it's already available and being used effectively
get a job you damn hippy :)
also do you really need wifi access at the mall? and mall!! who buys stuff in person anymore
i jest mostly...
It's not the same data. A mobile device won't be viewing SWF animations or downloading Windows service packs.
get a job you damn hippy :)
I have a job. It doesn't pay as much as I'd want. Internet at home already costs me hundreds of dollars per year; why should I pay hundreds more for Internet away from home? I can't just drop Internet at home and use mobile Internet while at home because my usage pattern on one device alone would exceed the typical 5 GB per month cap for Internet away from home.
also do you really need wifi access at the mall?
Occasionally I do while waiting for public transit. And only recently did I discover the hotspot inside the Barnes and Noble store.
and mall!! who buys stuff in person anymore
People who don't want to have to pay return shipping for something that doesn't fit, be it clothes or a computer keyboard.
If I pay for, for example, 5GB I can use it for whatever I want.
U.S. wireless carriers rely on oversubscription. If a carrier sells a smartphone data plan with a 5 GB capacity, it relies on most subscribers underusing that 5 GB, not pushing the connection to within 2% of their cap every month like PC users are more apt to.