Fonera 2 To Launch With Extended Functionality 119
The next installment in the Fonera router family is set to make its debut in a couple of weeks, and the additions to the hardware are relatively impressive. Promising full support for networked storage, automatic downloads, sharing of a USB 3G connection, and a few other perks in addition to the normal range of functionality found in the Fonera routers this package packs quite a punch. "Like the original Fonera and Fonera+ routers, the principals of this hippie-love-in-styled product still apply. You buy the router and hook it up to your internet connection as normal. The trick is that the router shares a part of your bandwidth on a public-facing connection. Other Fon owners can log in and use this public network for free. In turn, you — as a Fonera owner — can travel the world and use other Fon hotspots. It's a neat idea and everybody wins, except the money-grabbing telcos."
Fon - A Good Idea I've Never Been Able To Use (Score:5, Informative)
I think the concept of Fon is excellent. But not all that useful in practice.
I live in a fairly populated area, and there are ~7 Fon routers within a five mile radius of where I live (Go to http://maps.fon.com/ [fon.com] to check around where you live). But every single one of those hotspots is in a residential area. Which is (I think) why I've never actually seen a Fon hotspot when I've been looking for WiFi. And, in the 6 months or so that I've ran a Fon hotspot out of my home, I've had zero outside connections.
I think the key to success for Fon would be to target businesses where people are typically looking for WiFi. Coffee Shops, Hotels and the like. The way it is now, I'd have to camp out on someone's Cul-de-sac to find a Fon hotspot.
Re:Why, oh why... (Score:4, Informative)
All that said, it's ridiculous how many people would scream bloody murder over a GPL violation, while they're downloading someone else's content without the publisher's permission.
Two problems with this line of reasoning: 1) They may not be--and most likely aren't--the same people most of the time; Slashdot isn't some sort of group mind; and 2) Most GPL violations are carried out by organizations which otherwise vocally support copyrights, patents, and the like; even if one does not support these concepts oneself, it is still legitimate to judge others' actions by their own rules.
One final thought: The GPL was created in opposition to existing copyright law; its purpose is to take advantage of copyright schemes endorsed by others and so unwisely formulated into law to create a sort of "walled garden" where copyright, to a greater or lesser extent, does not apply. It is thus perfectly consistent to be both anti-copyright and pro-GPL, to the extend that copyright does exist in the law.
The best use of a FON is dd-wrt (Score:3, Informative)
Now with unlimited HSDPA 3G plans being available here (I've been using one with my iPhone 3G), it's much easier to get Internet connection with your mobile phone. Previously, I've been using an old version PdaNet on my iPhone to do it. But with the 3.0 beta firmware (I'm an iPhone developer so I can get beta firmware from Apple) now I can just tether via USB. If you've got an unlimited 3G plan like me and some other 3G phone (like a Nokia), you can even do the tethering without fiddling with jailbreaking or beta firmware.
So, the only use of a FON left is to use it as a regular wifi router at home. But even for that, it's terribly insufficient - it doesn't have uPnP, DMZ or DDNS clients. So again, the only useful thing you can do with it, is to jailbreak it and install dd-wrt (or some other free router firmware) into it, so at least you get basic things like DMZ and uPnP.
Re:Why, oh why... (Score:1, Informative)
That may have been the original intent. But the GPL guarantees more freedoms than simple lack of copyright would entail.
In a world with no copyright, you may be able to copy the binary around at will but would no longer have guaranteed access to the source code in the first place, one of the key principles of free software.
Because it's LEGAL where Fon is (Score:3, Informative)
Fon is from Spain. And is Spain, downloading movies/music from p2p for your personal use was established to be COMPLETELLY LEGAL.
Better ask why do you have such and such legal situation at your place...
Re:A real hippie-love-in-styled product (Score:1, Informative)
It's been already illegal in Italy for quite a while. Yes, in its most pure form i.e. not if you have an open access point and somebody does something evil, no. You are breaking the law just by having an open access point (with internet access), even if nobody ever connects to it.
FONERAS are legal in Italy because visitors have to be validated using SMS. A Prepaid Mobile card is validated using a valid identity...
Thesame for Germany.
Do check http://blog.fon.com/it to see FON in action in Italy.
In the UK all "public" traffic is tunneled; so your own public ip is NOT misused
in France only HTTP/HTTPS traffic is allowed on public hotspots...
for each country the fonspots are following the local laws / legislations