FON Last modified: Tuesday, May 01, 2007
FON is the name of a Wi-Fi community that uses social routing; its members share their wireless access and in return can freely use Wi-Fi when they find another Fonero's Access Point. These access points are provided by other FOM members.  FON is a peer-to-peer approach to Wi-Fi. To offer a FON Access Point you must use a 54 Mbps wireless router, called La Fonera, which is available from FON. Those who belong to the FON community are called "Foneros" Within the group of Foneros there are three basic levels of membership: Linuses: those who share their Wi-Fi and in return can get free Wi-Fi when using a FON Access Point. Aliens: those who do not share their own WiFi but pay a fee to use a Fonero Access Point. Bills: those who make money from their Wi-Fi. Linuses earn a percentage of the fees that Aliens pay to use FON. There is some controversy about FON and its services that mainly arise around the legal issues associated with Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Some Internet users who are Linuses members may be breaking their ISP terms of agreement as their ISP may not allow its users to share their Wi-Fi connections or resell their bandwidth.
FON A WiFi community that uses social routing that enables members to share their broadband Internet. FON, and why sharing WiFi.s a cool technology for Africa Ethan Zuckerman's musings on Africa, international development and hacking the media. Open Networks Today Networking news moves at a fast pace, and Open Networks Today lets you keep up with it. Open Networks Today offers its readers the ability to control how news is presented through customizing content filters, discussions, and news feed links. PracticallyNetworked.com PracticallyNetworked.com provides easy-to-understand help for small-network builders. The site contains how-to information for setting up and debugging home-office and small-business networks. Users can also find extensive troubleshooting information, tips on getting applications to work through firewalls, product reviews on network hardware and software, and more. PracticallyNetworked: Get Your Free Wi-Fi Access: Reasons to Fawn Over FON It was only a matter of time before businesses started to monetize what amounts to a state of near chaos in wireless connectivity. Time Warner is the latest to buy into the FON model. Spanish Wi-Fi Co. Backed by Google, Skype Madrid-based Fon Technology has won financial backing from Google and Skype for its peer-to-peer approach to providing Wi-Fi Internet access. Wi-Fi service breaches ISP conditions A router designed to share broadband internet connections with third parties appears to break the terms and conditions of seven of the top 10 UK internet service providers.

Related Terms

Access Point ISP La Fonera peer-to-peer router routing social routing Web 2.0 Wi-Fi wireless