Wi-Fi Net News
AT&T’s HSPA 7.2 Is Not Quite What It Seems
AT&T wasn’t trying to pull a fast one, even though it was marketing this move as an enhancement. In the 5 January press release, the company makes it crystal clear that it’s upgraded the software to allow HSPA 7.2 even though it doesn’t have the necessary backhaul improvements in place to make the network actually [...]
SIM Card Turns Cellphones Into Wi-Fi Hotspots
This offering from Sagem Orga and Telefonica, announced at the Barcenola Mobile World Congress this week, puts a Wi-Fi radio into a standard SIM (Subscriber Identity Module), which is used in all GSM devices to authenticate to the network and associate billing information.
Topics: wireless, Mobile World Congress, Telefonica, Wi-Fi, SIM Card, telecom
Few Will Pay for In-Flight Internet
Joe Brancatelli, veteran business and travel reporter, keeps looking for traces of potential revenue from in-flight Internet access: He’s not finding it.
Topics: telecom, Canada, Wi-Fi, HSPA, wireless, WiMax
Town Offering Free Wi-Fi to 186,000 Residents In U.K.
The town of Swindon, England, will provide free Wi-Fi to residents: The project is estimated at just £1m to install 1,400 access points around the city, which seems rather inexpensive–could that possibly include installation, backhaul, network operations, and bandwidth?
Topics: Google, Wi-Fi, USA, HSPA, wireless, WiMax, telecom, encryption, backhaul
County Closes Hotspot After Movie Download
Coshocton County, Ohio, shutters a hotzone because of a movie download: The local paper reports that Sony Pictures notified OneCommunity, which operates the county’s one-block hotzone, that a movie was downloaded “illegally.”
Topics: telecom, carrier, wireless, hotspot, Wi-Fi, ISP
Bing Offering Sponsored Wi-Fi
Bing is underwriting free Wi-Fi at some hotspots if you perform a single Bing search. The program started in September, and incorporates thousands of hotspots…
Topics: Wi-Fi, Microsoft, USA, wireless, WiMax, telecom
Starbucks Makes It Easier, Different to Get Free Wi-Fi
Starbucks is revising its stored-value affinity card programs, making it easier by some measures to get free Wi-Fi: I’ve noted before that Starbucks doesn’t offer free Wi-Fi in the sense that an indie coffeeshop with an open access point does, nor like airports that provide Wi-Fi at no cost.
Topics: telecom, wireless, WiMax, Wi-Fi, USA
Gogo Offers $25 30-Day Airline Wi-Fi Pass for Three Airlines
Gogo keeps pushing deals for in-flight Internet during the holidays: A tweet from the Aircell service says that you can purchase a 30-day pass for access for $24.95 for AirTran, American, or Delta airlines on your next flight through 31 December 2009.
Topics: HSPA, Wi-Fi, wireless, telecom, WiMax
Is Verizon Being Unfair to AT&T in 3G Map Comparisons?
AT&T is suing Verizon over a snarky campaign that compares Verizon’s 3G coverage to AT&T’s: Is this unfair? It’s maybe impolite, but it doesn’t appear unfair or incorrect.
Topics: 3G, GSM, UMTS, Wi-Fi, Sprint, ISP, WiMax, telecom, T-Mobile, cellular
Co-working as Alternative to Wi-Fi Squatting
A Minneapolis entrepreneur suggested to Crema Cafe’s owner that she turn her shop into a co-working location–a place where people in unrelated, typically one-person businesses work together–one day a week.
Topics: Wi-Fi, HSPA, telecom, WiMax, wireless
AT&T’s Latest Hotspot Usage Statistics
AT&T may be crying uncle about how much bandwidth 3G smartphone consumers use, but the firm is proud of the level of Wi-Fi service it offers: Wi-Fi is vastly cheaper to provide than 3G, and AT&T knows it. That’s why the company has been expanding coverage to its customers both for improving loyalty and decreasing [...]
Time Warner Wi-Fi Routers Have 1990s Style Security Hole
It’s so retro of Time Warner to remind us of that era by providing about 65,000 customers with a router that has not just an identical password (not strange) but that’s open for configuration over the Internet.
Topics: wireless, telecom, broadband, HSPA, Comcast, Time Warner, cable modem, Wi-Fi, WiMax
Going the Distance with Wi-Fi Direct
The areas Wi-Fi Direct can best Bluetooth are on distance and speed: I’ve written a few articles already about Wi-Fi Direct, the new peer-to-peer mode that the Wi-Fi Alliance is finalizing and which will appear in updated and new hardware in mid-2010. This includes my analysis of why Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct serve related but [...]
Virgin America Offers Free Wi-Fi with Google for Holidays
Google’s picking up the tab for passengers’ Wi-Fi on Virgin America for two months: From 10-Nov-2009 to 15-Jan-2010, Virgin America’s Wi-Fi is free, with Google acting as the sponsor.
Topics: WiMax, telecom, HSPA, Wi-Fi, wireless
Wi-Fi Alliance Peers into the Future with Ad Hoc Replacement
Strong peer-to-peer mode added to Wi-Fi portfolio: The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced Wi-Fi Direct, a peer-to-peer wireless networking method that takes the group into a new realm of creating specifications de novo, instead of following IEEE groups. The spec will appear in hardware by mid-2010.
Topics: encryption, Bluetooth, UWB, WiMax, Apple, Wi-Fi, wireless, SMS, telecom, peering
