If you have a laptop or a PDA or even a phone that has Wi-Fi built in, of whatever flavour, you should at least check out a new company called Fon.
I was made aware of it on a response to a post of mine complaining about the cost of Wi-Fi two days ago. I am now trying it out.
The idea is simple, and what I really like about it is that it mirrors the very creation of the Internet in the first place – individuals installing their own equipment and connecting through a simple piece of networking software to one another – thereby bypassing huge and controlling corporate interests who, inevitably, are only interested in maximised revenue.
My trusty Linksys router died a fortnight ago and despite coughing up £10 for a lazy geek to plug in an Ethernet cable and declare it dead, I haven't been able to get it working. So I have just bought the self-same router through Fon.
This router comes with a big discount and with Fon's sharing software installed so any “Fonero” who is wandering past my house in Oxford is welcome to use it. The good thing is that fears of security etc are dealt with through security on Fon's software.
That, at least, is the theory. I shall give it a thorough going over and report back, but in the meantime I thought I would point people towards it. I should also say that I know meshing technology has been about for ages but this is the first time that I've heard of a company doing it in a professional and global way (there were networks in Cornwall but none in Newquay where I lived, despite me occasionally trying to sell the idea to a few locals).
I should also say that I have already hit my first glitch with Fon. The router was 25 euros but the shipping cost and VAT means that in total it has cost me 50 euros to get it. But that isn't the real issue – the real issue is right at the end, after I'd paid by PayPal and everything, a little note popped up to inform me that it would take three weeks to arrive.
Three weeks!
Presumably the discount has been agreed through Fon's backers (which include Google and Skype) and so it has some lengthy discount process to make sure it isn't abused. But even so – three weeks?! It has to do something about that.
Also, it is a bit behind in that it only has maps of access points for Spain and the US. I suppose this is to be expected as the company is still in its very early stages, but it will need to get more professional very quickly if it hopes to achieve its dreams.
If you want to know more about Fon, I have some links. Actually, what I will do is ask Guy Kewney what he thinks. Guy is an expert in this field and, fortunately, a friend. But in the meantime…
- Wendy Seltzer blog post (on Fon's board)
- Martin Varsavsky blog post (Fon founder)
- BBC – Global wi-fi plan gets $22m boost (Caveat: Don't trust the BBC on Internet stories unless they're written by Bill Thompson)
- International Herald Tribune – Wireless: Want to pay, or not? A plan with a choice
Actually I have yet to find anyone who has given Fon a proper test-run from a IT journalist perspective so I might have a first on my hands. Please feel free to post links to articles below if I'm wrong.