Category Archives: HotSpots

The Physics Of Where To Put a Wi-Fi Router

Deciding where to place a Wi-Fi router at home to minimise signal blackspots is a fine art. But a physicist has attempted to tackle the problem by mathematically working out the optimum position for a router. He studied how walls and reflections affected signal strength and concluded that, as common sense might suggest, there’s justContinue Reading

AirCell And American Airlines to Launch In-Flight Wi-Fi Service Over U.S.

AirCell and American Airlines have just announced that they will be testing broadband services beginning in 2008. The goal is to enable passengers to use their laptops, PDAs, iPhones and BlackBerrys, and portable gaming systems. AirCell is the leader in global airborne communications and its products are found in many commercial airplanes. In 2006 AirCellContinue Reading

Learning To Share Your Wi-Fi

Wanna share your Wi-Fi? Now you can, and with three choices to boot. The Whisher beta software is available for download and can operate with most, if not all, Wi-Fi routers or access points. Users must register their Wi-Fi network and to do so, they would need to disclose its name, physical address, and WEPContinue Reading

Pilgrims On The Wireless Trail

People in Cape Cod, Massachusetts just weren’t getting the internet service they hoped for, so instead of fighting with carriers they decided to find their own solution. The non-profit group, OpenCape Corp was started with about $300,000 in donations from local colleges, communities and development agencies. The group is already taking steps toward its goalContinue Reading

Free Wi-Fi In London…Mapped

If you’re in London and looking for free Wi-Fi this is just the site for you. The Londonist has set up a map with the aim of recording all of the bars, pubs, and coffee shops that offer free Wi-Fi access. While mapping they’ve noticed that some large areas of London seem to have freeContinue Reading

Michigan Man Arrested For Using Cafe’s Free WiFi From His Car

The Michigan police arrested Sam Peterson for using from his car the free WiFi network that Union Street Cafe has reserved solely for its customers. Peterson escaped the penalty of five-year imprisonment and paying a $10,000 fee, as prescribed by the state’s “fraudulent access to computers, computer systems, and computer networks” law. Prosecutors only demandedContinue Reading

Best WiFi Hotels 2007

And now for the information that travelers absolutely must have. Which hotels provide the best Wi-Fi services as reported by HotelChatter.com. First the bad news, rather than more hotels providing free internet its gone the other way. More hotels are limiting or restricting the availability of their Wi-Fi services and trying to make an extraContinue Reading

The Other Public-Access Wi-Fi

Public Access WiFi appears to be undergoing an evolution of sorts. The current standard deployment method consists of mesh technology and many people supply this equipment. The key question is who should own this infrastructure and what fees should apply. Some experts are in favor of a tiered approach with the lowest level of serviceContinue Reading

City Of London Fires Up Europe’s Most Advanced Wi-Fi Network

People who work in and visit the City of London can now have broadband Wi-Fi connection anytime, thanks to a network provided by The Cloud, Europe’s largest Wi-Fi network operator. “We feel it is important to provide this technology to maintain our position as the world’s leading international financial centre,” remarked Michael Snyder, who chairsContinue Reading

Fon’s New Friend – Time Warner Cable

Is a Fon subscription right for you? Fon is a start-up wireless broadband network that uses other people’s bandwidth to get its clients online. Currently many people use someone else’s open WiFi network to get online, a practice that is generally a violation of the subscriber’s service contract. But that may soon change. Time WarnerContinue Reading

Southwest Reaching For Wi-Fi In Sky

Southwest Airlines is looking to add WiFi services to its flights. They’re hoping to begin rolling out a prototype within the next nine months. Eventually, the plan is that travelers will not only be able to access their email but also have more entertainment options during their flights. The appeal of WiFi during long flightsContinue Reading

Find WiFi By Phoning Home Using Asterisk

Locating a HotSpot has been made easy by the new Asterisk WiFi Hotspot Finder plugin. All you need to do is get Asterisk — an open source VoIP phone system — and install it in your PC. You also need to have a VoIP-to-POTS (normal phone service) provider, a phone system, and the Flite voiceContinue Reading

WiFi In The Sky: Airlines Prepare Cabin Hotspots

Following approval by the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration, AirCell announced it will bring in-flight Internet service in airlines, which passengers can avail of starting early next year. In 2006, the airplane cabin communications company shelled out $31.3 million to own spectrum formerly used for pricey air-phone service, which it will nowContinue Reading

Google Announces Free In-home Wireless Broadband Service

Technology has now made gaps in cell phone coverage a thing of the past, that is if there is a Wi-Fi Hotspot nearby. Smart phones, complete with Wi-Fi capabilities are hitting the market, albeit slowly, and allow you to make VoIP phone calls, check email, read the latest news and other activities via the internet.Continue Reading

London Takes International WiFi Crown

London has the most number of people connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots at non-business locations, according to a new study by iPass. The British capital, the report said, had over 11,000 access sessions at areas such as cafes and bookshops over a period of six months. The volume is twice that of Singapore. The iPass Wi-FiContinue Reading