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Hotspot Problems UniversalHotspot Problems UniversalHotspot Problems Universal 01/19/2004 01:59 PM A Malaysian user of the state-run operator's Wi-Fi service has trouble getting on: Then he gets no help from customer service. It seems that getting technical help when trying to connect to a hotspot is problematic anywhere you go. Ultimately, the writer finds more luck using free hotspots.... This is a GrokNews Entry: (what is grok?)Hotspot Problems UniversalGrok Headline matches for Hotspot Problems UniversalNew UK Wi-Fi Hotspot FinderNew UK Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder 01/09/2004 09:52 PM Firstly, i would like to say "Happy New Year". Anyway, this posting is because i have made a new UK Hotspot finder site that finds the nearest Wi-Fi Hotspots (Commercial and Free) to your postcode. At the moment, Wi-Fish.com (the name of the site) is UK-Only because of the search algorhythm... How to Become a Hotspot GuideHow to Become a Hotspot Guide 04/23/2004 08:23 PM Looking to become a hotspot? Jiwire has published an in-depth guide: There's no question we get more frequently at Wi-Fi Networking News than from individual venues or small chains of locations that want to install Wi-Fi service but don't know quite how to start or how to evaluate offerings. This Jiwire piece offers very specific advice and direction on making primary decisions--free or fee? on your own or in a network? turnkey or solutions provider?--and then who to turn to.... A Hotspot on Every CornerA Hotspot on Every Corner 07/29/2004 08:25 PM Details are sketchy, but New York City may allow six telecom firms to pay up to $25 million per year to install wireless transmitters on 18,000 lamp posts: The article is full of sturm und drang about health effects, but the real story is that the city is trying to counter its dead zones without tearing up the streets. It's unclear precisely what kind of transmitters these will be, but you can bet your boppy that the goal will be wireless backhaul for the majority of the points using mesh or simple point-to-point. This endeavor could bring massively improved voice, 2.5G/3G cell data, and Wi-Fi into a city without ripping up all the roads once again or putting giant cell antennas on every last building. The companies include well-known and never-heard-of-'em: the New York Post says they are two cellular providers, Nextel and T-Mobile, three non-cellular companies, ClearLinx Network Corp., Crown Castle Solutions, and Dianet Communications. The sixth, IDT Business Services, will provide telephone service via the Internet. [link via GigaOm]... Hotspot CameraHotspot Camera 01/05/2005 06:47 PM Did Kodak just build 802.1X into a camera? Kodak will release a camera in June that can upload photos via T-Mobile hotspots. The software to enable this uploading isn't due until fall, for some reason. The new Easyshare-One sounds like a combination of Apple iPod Photo, PDA functionality (for wireless and previewing), and digital camera. It comes with a trial for using T-Mobile's service. I'm guessing that this camera's fall software release will leverage the 802.1X authentication that T-Mobile has added to its North American venues. 802.1X is both simple and hard. If Kodak preloads unique accounts, or allows people to set this up through PC or camera back software, there's very little complexity. The 802.1X supplicant in the camera can manage the connection. The camera will retail for $600 plus $100 for the optional Wi-Fi card. Terms of the free trial service and monthly pricing are yet to be determined. It's a direct shot across the bow at cellular operators who are offering poor upload speeds on their high-speed network. Given that T-Mobile has articulated a long delay in their 3G rollout plans and don't want to clog their GPRS networks, this seems like a perfect symbiosis for Kodak and T-Mobile.... Hotspot HelperHotspot Helper 01/16/2004 11:01 AM MediaTracker is offering a low-cost way for venues to manage their hotspots: The management software, ControlAP, costs $149 and can support several platforms and both external APs plugged into a computer or an internal wireless card. Because the software is Java based, it can be run from a handheld with a wireless card. "It's a do-it-yourself mechanism to control hotspots," said Dario Laverde, MediaTracker's founder. "The initial target is cafes and small store fronts." The software enables a captive portal Web page where end users can sign in or see a welcome page if the hot spot is free. For now, a cafe may decide to offer 30 minutes of free use, then require customers to approach the counter where they pay the barista for additional use. A cafe could also ask customers to buy another coffee in exchange for additional use rather than set a price based on time, Laverde suggested. An employee authorizes additional use from a computer behind the counter where the ControlAP software can be integrated with existing point-of-sale software. The next version of ControlAP will support credit card billing. The software logs traffic and allows a cafe to block URLs or users by MAC address. It can be used to manage wired connections, too, so a cafe that may have some wired computers available for customers can manage those together with users of the Wi-Fi network from the same tool. Laverde says that thousands of people have downloaded the free version of the software, which is meant to serve as a trial version because it limits simultaneous users to five and offers stripped-down features. The full version of the software was just introduced this week. MediaTracker isn't alone in the market chasing independent cafes that don't want to partner with any of the larger hotspot operators, but it does offer some unique differences from its competitors. Surf and Sip, for example, offers a hosted hotspot management solution that either costs $50 per month if the hotspot is free for users, or 25 percent of profits for a paid location. Sputnik offers a robust solution for managing hotspots but is designed for the small to medium-sized hotspot operator that has multiple locations. AirPath Wireless also offers a hotspot management solution but seems to be targeting larger hot spot operators--Sprint uses AirPath's solution. NoCatAuth is also an option but appropriate mostly for technical folks.... SBC is Hotspot Hero?SBC is Hotspot Hero? 07/26/2004 12:37 PM They're late to the game, but they're ready to party: It's a funny thing. When SBC Communications first announced their FreedomLink plans last year with plans build 6,000 hotspots over a couple of years, it seemed like yet another announcement of large numbers with no track record. Cometa was still on its 20,000 hotspots prediction and had only a handful. McDonald's hadn't decided its partner and was in limited trials. Wayport seemed stuck on hotels. And T-Mobile stayed focused--as it still does--on a few ubiquitous chains. In the space of a few months, SBC has moved from last man in, to practically first mover. Let's review: The UPS Store. They will install Wi-Fi in thousands of UPS Store outlets, which are places that business people already congregate. This will probably also necessitate a change of thinking for that mailing and business operation so that they can make it easier for people to work for periods of time in their stores. Wayport managed services. They hired Wayport to build out their FreedomLink locations instead of creating a new division with no experience in house. Wayport's Wi-Fi World and McDonald's. They're the first telco to sign up to resell Wayport's McDonald's network, which will ultimately be several thousand stores over the next couple of years. Wayport/McDonald's supplier. They're also providing DSL and other connectivity to many of the McDonald's that Wayport is disconnected, which is part revenue, part branding for them as part of the Wi-Fi World co-marketing model Wayport is pursuing. Airports, airports, airports. They have roaming agreements now for their FreedomLink users onto Concourse, Wise, Wayport, and (reportedly) Sprint PCS's airport locations. There are only a handful of major airports not represented by those networks: SFO and Boston Logan are the two that come to mind. Pushing Wi-Fi into homes. SBC is selling 3,000 Wi-Fi routers a day to their home DSL users. This will drive adoption by their users of Wi-Fi. People without Wi-Fi will buy adapters or new systems because of the ease of sharing. Pushing hotspots subscriptions to their DSL subscribers. It's a coming, and it's going to be good--SBC keeps saying in its press releases that they will offer FreedomLink at a substantial discount to their DSL subscribers. $10 per month for unlimited use? $8? $15? Who knows. But it's an audience they've already got and they can offer them nationwide service with several thousand locations... Oregon Gets Biggest HotspotOregon Gets Biggest Hotspot 02/10/2004 02:40 AM It's always worrisome to qualify networks as the "biggest" but in this case I'd bet that eastern Oregon really does have the biggest hotspot in the country: Yesterday, Boardman and Hermiston, Ore. turned on a 600-square-mile hotspot. The network came about through a public/private initiative and was built by EZ Wireless. The network will be used by the Morrow County Emergency Management and Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, the police force, and citizens. Initially, it will cover 600 square miles which includes four counties and seven cities, some in Washington. The second phase, which should be complete this summer, will add another seven cities. The press release isn't online and any news organizations in the area either don't post the stories online or require subscriptions from visitors wanting to read the stories online.... New UK Wi-Fi Hotspot Finding SiteNew UK Wi-Fi Hotspot Finding Site 01/03/2004 08:47 PM Firstly, i would like to say "Happy New Year". Anyway, this posting is because i have made a new UK Hotspot finder site that finds the nearest Wi-Fi Hotspots (Commercial and Free) to your postcode. At the moment, Wi-Fish.com (the name of the site) is UK-Only because of the search algorhythm... Charter, Cisco HotspotCharter, Cisco Hotspot 06/09/2004 05:35 PM Unstrung.com Jun 9 2004 9:42PM GMT T-mobile WiFi HotspotT-mobile WiFi Hotspot 04/09/2004 04:00 PM I arrived here at Honolulu International a little earlier than I wanted to this morning as my wife had to... Put a Hotspot Search on Your PagePut a Hotspot Search on Your Page 11/04/2003 12:52 AM Like what you see at left? You can have it, too: The JIWIRE hotspot locator can be added in one of two dimensions to your page by following the link.... Which Hotspot Networks Still Stand?Which Hotspot Networks Still Stand? 05/19/2004 01:26 PM With the slow rundown of Cometa's clock starting today, which companies remain standing?: I do have a little ego, and my article in Feb. 2001 in The New York Times was the first comprehensive piece written in a major publication about the nascent Wi-Fi hotspot industry. Several companies were striving to raise funds into the mouth of the dotcom collapse, which claimed bloated business plans or too early attempts to capitalize on a technology that only a small number of laptop users had access to. While researching the story in Dec. 2000, I spoke to the chief marketing officer of the Aerzone division of Softnet. Three days after I spoke to him, Softnet pulled the plug because they couldn't raise the funds to perform the build out that they'd contracted with airlines and airports to handle. The firms I interviewed for the article were Wayport, Surf and Sip, Global Digital Media, AirWave, SkyLink (not quoted), and MobileStar. Let's start in reverse order. What's clear from examining each of these firms is that execution and timing mattered as much in 2001 as they do today: controlling costs and building out a robust network in the right place can only go so far: users who pay are still required. MobileStar: While initially well funded, MobileStar had extremely high run rates. I's technical standards were top notch, but expensive, and expenses ran far ahead of any potential revenue. They went bankrupt late in 2001 and had their assets purchased by T-Mobile HotSpot. The company reportedly went through as much as $90 million in investment income while producing no more than a couple million in revenue. T-Mobile has continued to use its brand name and high-level partnerships to run what is generally considered to be an excellent network that's overprice for day use, but not far out of scale on their unlimited monthly plans with one-year commitment. Sky.Link Internet Plus: A promising Canadian firm with hotel and airports service, the company disappeared abruptly a few months after my article came out. It resurfaced briefly with fewer locations before taking a final plunge. Its history and disappearance are a mystery. AirWave: AirWave was a small San Francisco Bay Area set of hotspots in restaurants and coffeeshops that decided that the software they'd written to manage access points was a better product than the hotspot business. In 2002, they exited hotspots, spinning off their locations to... North Pole Gets Wi-Fi HotspotNorth Pole Gets Wi-Fi Hotspot 04/15/2005 08:43 PM Psst, need a Hotspot locator?Psst, need a Hotspot locator? 07/19/2004 04:40 PM Direct and Related Links for 'Psst, need a Hotspot locator?' Need to be able to locate Wi-Fi Hotspots in a hurry, perhaps JiWire’s Portable Hotspot Locator is just the tool that you need. The Portable Hotspot Locator enables you to search for and find Hotspots quickly thanks to the ability to search by State, city and even Location Type….Hotspot Users SurveyHotspot Users Survey 06/24/2005 10:01 PM A group at the University of Virginia wants some answers from hotspot users: They're compiling a study in which they're recruiting folks who regularly use hotspots to fill out a very brief questionnaire....
free hotspot lambeth rd se1free hotspot lambeth rd se1 02/10/2004 03:00 AM as said before by others, bought 11g network card, plugged it in, free access. around junction of kennington rd & lambeth rd, lambeth se1 MCI's Hotspot NetworkMCI's Hotspot Network 03/23/2005 12:40 PM The attention that MCI has gotten from its expanded hotspot network is bewildering to me: I cover the industry obsessively, and so I know that MCI is just reselling locations available from Boingo and Wayport. Still, there have been piles of articles trying to articulate how MCI's hotspot plan fits into their rest of their operations. There's a strategic goal there, of course, but the articles--not the one linked to, however--often confuse the private-label reseller relationship that Boingo has with MCI (and with Earthlink, Fiberlink, and other companies without -link in their names) and Wayport with, well, everyone, with MCI building out a hotspot network a la SBC or T-Mobile. Although the IDG story linked to says that the service costs $40 per month for unlimited Wi-Fi/broadband when added to a dial-up and VPN account, it's unclear exactly how that works as MCI's Remote Broadband Access FAQ states that wireless charges are in addition to dial-up charges. Just another way in which it's hard to figure out what, precisely, something costs.... City to become wireless hotspotCity to become wireless hotspot 05/19/2004 06:13 AM Anyone in the centre of Cardiff will be able to surf the web or pick up e-mails on their laptop under a new broadband scheme. Coming Soon to a Wireless Hotspot Near
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