Category Archives: HotSpots

Schwarzenegger: Yes To WiFi Stickers, No To RFID Safeguards

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that would label WiFi routers with security warning stickers. The law, which will take effect on October 1, 2007, aims to ensure that consumers would know how to activate security setting on a new home networking equipment. Schwarzenegger also vetoed a bill that would restrict the way theContinue Reading

Get Free Wi-Fi Access If You Watch An Advert

Free-Hotspot.com plans to start a new campaign that will give people free Internet access, and even phone calls, if they watch a cinema advertisement and answer a two-question quiz later. According to CEO Dan Toomey, the scheme is intended to expand the company’s presence in the U.K. Via [theinquirer.net]Continue Reading

Skyriver Launches New Wireless Broadband Coverage In Pasadena

Skyriver Communications is extending its fixed wireless coverage in Los Angeles county to include Pasadena and nearby communities such as Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Rosemead and El Monte. The company said it now delivers continuous wireless coverage from Palm Springs through Ventura using pre-WiMAX technology. According to Skyriver’s VP of Sales Manny Fennessy,Continue Reading

Wi-Fi Service Breaches ISP Conditions

Fon.com’s WiFi routers are apparently in violation of the conditions of seven of U.K.’s top 10 Internet service providers. The company’s routers enable sharing of broadband connections with third parties, which is allowed by Blueyonder from Telewest and Orange Broadband. But others like BT, NTL and Tiscali prohibit connection sharing while AOL would only permitContinue Reading

Logan’s Wi-Fi Chokehold

Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is trying to get the endorsement of most of the five-member body to put an end to the monopoly of the Advanced Wireless Group in providing wireless Internet access at Logan Airport. Last year, Continental Airlines complained with the commission over the action of Massachusetts Port AuthorityContinue Reading

T-Mobile Bets On Wi-Fi, Drops Zeta-Jones

T-Mobile plans to sell new handsets that can make calls though WiFi hotspots. According to sources, the company is testing the service using a Samsung SGH-T709 along with a D-Link TM-G5240 router in the Oregon/Washington area. The carrier also hopes to introduce another product called “My Favs”, which will allow subscribers to choose five numbersContinue Reading

Virgin Trains To Launch WiFi Service In 2007

Nomad Digital has won the contract to provide wireless Internet access on Virgin Trains. The company will launch the new service, which will be based on WiMax technology, on its West Coast Main Line route next year. Aside from allowing passensers to surf the Internet and download digital data, the new network is also expectedContinue Reading

Aeroplane Wi-Fi Could Fly Again

Panasonic announced it will offer wireless Internet service to airlines and the plan is to sell the service for $10 per flight. It is eyeing companies like Lufthansa, which used Boeing’s failed Connexion service. Panasonic strategic marketing director David Bruner said the firm is “determined to avoid one of the things that brought Connexion down”Continue Reading

Local Shops On Track To Add WiFi Access To Their Offerings

Mission Hill in Roxbury will host the third WiFi access point in Boston Main Streets districts. The first two hotspots are located in Roslindale and Washington Gateway Main Streets. According to Mission Hill Main Streets director Maggie Cohn, the project benefits small businesses in two ways: they will have free access to the Internet andContinue Reading

Wi-Fi Gives Kids Access To Unchaperoned Net

New portable gaming devices with wireless capabilities like Sony’s PSP (PlayStation portable system) and Nintendo DS are raising concerns among parents. Parents have less control on these gadgets unlike with PCs, which allow them a number of options to restrict or monitor their kids’ activities, such as installing Net Nanny, a program to block pornographyContinue Reading

Silicon Valley Wireless Project Moves Forward

The Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force has chosen Silicon Valley Metro Connect to build and run a wireless network that will stretch over 1,500 square miles of the region. Metro Connect is a consortium involving Cisco Systems and IBM. The project, however, still requires the approval of individual municipalities before the construction of the networkContinue Reading

Google Wi-Fi Gift Has A Catch

Google’s municipal WiFi project in Mountain View, CA. has a catch, no live tech support. The network is being provided for 5 years at a cost of millions as a ‘perk’ to the city, but as the saying goes; “you get what you pay for”. The free network will not have any live tech supportContinue Reading

A Net Pioneer’s Wireless Wager

After Earthlink, Sky Dayton is now focusing on two new ventures, Boingo Wireless and Helio, both of which have tight connections with the pioneering Internet service provider. Earthlink, which won contracts to build WiFi networks in cities such as New Orleans, San Francisco, and Anaheim, California, pays for its clients’ use of Boingo software. TheContinue Reading

Minneapolis Goes Wi-Fi, With WiMax To Follow

Minneapolis aims to create a citywide wireless network with the help of BelAir Networks and US Internet. Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak said the city “has chosen both a business model and a technology solution that ensure immediate, ongoing, and sustainable benefits.” Under the plan, the suppliers will develop a 54-squre-mile network that will initiallyContinue Reading

IBM-Cisco Group’s Bid Wins Valley Wi-Fi Contract

Silicon Valley has chosen MetroConnect, a coalition involving IBM Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and wireless Internet firms Azulstar and SeaKay, to provide wireless Internet coverage to most of the area. Under the contract, the group will shoulder the costs of developing the massive hotspot spanning over 1,000 square miles of Silicon Valley. Joint Venture SiliconContinue Reading