Silicon.com continues with its Fair Wi-Fi campaign, which urges hotels in the U.K. to be more transparent as to how they charge customers for Wi-Fi use. Today, hotel Wi-Fi prices vary some charge a flat fee of £50 while others impose an hourly rate of £5. According to Graeme Powell, MD of iBahn, knowing the… Continue Reading
Category Archives: HotSpots
Stealing Starbucks’ WiFi Customers
Starbucks clients need not pay the usual $10 per day to connect wirelessly. The said fee is charged by T-Mobile for each customer who wants to sign onto its 5,100 hotspots while they stay at U.S. Starbucks. Madrid-based Wi-Fi provider FON is offering a cheaper plan of $2 per day. The scheme allows owners of… Continue Reading
BT Keeps Quiet On Wi-Fi Sharing Talks
BT is keeping mum on rumors it is having secret negotiations with FON. The company said it wants to expand its Wi-Fi coverage but it has no deal with the Spanish Wi-Fi sharing network at the moment. According to Reuters, however, the two firms are holding talks with each other. Many ISPs, including BT, have… Continue Reading
Boingo Launches Worldwide Wi-Fi Service For Mobile Phones And Devices
Boingo Wireless has launched its new global Wi-Fi service for mobile phones and devices. Boingo Mobile, which the company offers for a monthly flat rate of $7.95, allows users to get high-speed Internet connection in airports, hotels, restaurants and convention centers across the globe. The service can run with Windows Mobile 5.0-based Smartphones or Pocket… Continue Reading
Boeing Kills ‘Dreamliner’ Wireless Network Plans
Boeing has dropped its plans to provide in-flight entertainment on its 787 “Dreamliner”, citing network weight and spectrum issues. According to company spokeswoman Lori Gunter, installation of the wireless network means additional 200 pounds per plane, or four times heavier than a wired network. Boeing also failed to get authorization to tap certain wireless bands… Continue Reading
S.F. Nears WiFi Deal
Contract negotiations over a citywide wireless network in San Francisco is set to wrap up soon, according Chris Vein, who heads the city’s technology office. The city has already selected the joint venture of Google and Earthlink for the multi-million-dollar project. Under the deal, Earthlink will build and manage the 50-square-mile network, which will hold… Continue Reading
Leicester Square To Become A Free WiFi Zone
Visitors to Leicester Square can now access the Internet wirelessly for free. The London tourist spot now hosts an 8 Mbit/s line but those connecting to it must be aware of the zone’s fair use clause, i.e., no one person should tap all the bandwidth at once. According to Phil Ryan of the PR and… Continue Reading
Google Requests Wi-Fi Perch
Google wants access to as many as 1,500 city light poles in San Francisco for its own test network and exclusive from the citywide WiFi network that it proposed to the city. Google’s project partner, EarthLink, voiced the search giant’s request to city officials, which it said is a condition for Google’s participation in the… Continue Reading
‘Evil Twin’ Wi-Fi Hacks Target The Rich
Hackers are taking advantage of WiFi to steal vital personal information by creating bogus wireless access points near commercial hotspots and assign them the same name. According to Richard Rushing, chief science officer at Wi-Fi security company AirDefense, most hackers perform ‘evil twin’ attacks in locations “where the better-off are hanging out because they have… Continue Reading
FCC: Boston Airport Can’t Block Airline’s Wi-Fi
The Federal Communications Commission has released its ruling in a case involving Continental Airlines and the Massachusetts Port Authority. In July, the airline filed a petition with the agency after Massport ordered it to take down a Wi-Fi access point at its “President’s Club” frequent-flier lounge in Boston’s Logan International Airport, citing violations of Continental’s… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi Trumps Starbucks
A new study by WiFi Alliance indicates that 89 percent of 549 WiFi users in the U.S. would rather give up Starbucks than lose their wireless connection. Some 92 percent of those aged between 18 and 29 are adamant about keeping their WiFi access. According to Wi-Fi Alliance managing director Frank Hanzlik, young people have… Continue Reading
Heathrow Express To Get Wi-Fi
Heathrow Express will begin offering wireless Internet access to passengers by early 2007. This will be made possible by T-Mobile’s plans to deploy hotspots on the train. The new network aims to deliver speeds as high as 8 Mbps or about 20 times faster than a 3G connection. Coverage, according to the company, will continue… Continue Reading
RoamAD Wins Caribbean Wi-Fi Deal
RoamAD has won a contract to build a network that will eventually provide wireless Internet coverage to 1.17 million homes or 59 percent of the urban population in the Dominican Republic. The New Zealand wireless network builder signed an agreement with DR Telecom towards the development of a 2.4GHz network, which will initially blanket about… Continue Reading
WiFi Offers Greater Connectivity To NYU
Officials at New York University sees a continuous growth in the availability of wireless Internet connectivity within the campus. A yearly survey by the Campus Computing Project indicates that coverage has grown over the years, with over half of college classrooms now having access to the university’s wireless network as compared to only two-fifths last… Continue Reading
Bangalore Challenge Spurs Valley WiFi Discussion
The Wireless Silicon Valley task force is looking into plans by Bangalore to become “the second city in the world to be fully WiMax enabled.” Taiwan earlier claimed to be the first city providing its residents wireless connection anywhere, anytime. The subject of Wireless Silicon Valley’s discussion ensued from an article in Hindustan Times written… Continue Reading