![](\"fonrouter.gif\")
A Spanish Internet company is selling a million
\n wireless Internet routers for just $5 each. But there’s a catch: Buyers
\n must share their wireless Internet connections with their friends,
\n neighbors, or even total strangers. It’s all part of a daring plan
\n to create a nationwide WiFi network on the cheap.<\/p>\n
People who join FON (pronounced “phone") are FON has already signed up over 60,000 users, including from the Boston Globe<\/a><\/p>\n FON homepage<\/a> (you can sign up NOW!)<\/p>\n Could this possibly work? It would be a paradigm Obviously, there will be problems with the FON But imagine if it works! Within our limited understanding If nothing else, give these guys points for chutzpah. A Spanish Internet company is selling a million wireless Internet routers for just $5 each. But there’s a catch: Buyers must share their wireless Internet connections with their friends, neighbors, or even total strangers. It’s all part of a daring … Continue reading
\n eligible to purchase a new wireless router for $5, plus an $8 shipping
\n fee. This router is programmed with software that lets other FON members
\n connect to the router for free Internet access. The router also protects
\n the owner’s privacy by blocking access to any other data on his home
\n computer network. If enough people join FON, they’ll create a nationwide
\n WiFi network, with free service to all FON members. The FON
\n website<\/a> features frequently updated maps showing where FON service is available.<\/p>\n
\n about 10,000 in the United States. But since standard WiFi routers
\n have a very short range — less than 300 feet — the company must deploy
\n millions of routers to create a truly comprehensive network.<\/p>\n
\n busting bucket of cold water in the faces of the desperate telecom
\n giants who are feverishly selling our collective communicative souls
\n to Homeland Security for the right to be
\n the
\n Gatekeepers
\n of the Internet of the Future. <\/em><\/p>\n
\n plan. Most WIFI users recognize that without some McGyvered antenna,
\n or
\n in a
\n cluttered
\n urban
\n landscape, effective reception is considerably less than a football
\n field (300 ft.) User density would have to be pretty high to create
\n any kind of contiguous coverage, even in high-tech cities.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n of the technical aspects of, well, anything technological, we imagine
\n it would work like the Media Lab’s much hyped $100 laptops, except
\n instead of unwiring a third world village, FON is attempting to unwire
\n the
\n entire global village, at $5 a pop.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n And stay tuned…..<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"