Internet: Should everyone be compelled to open their wireless networks for free?

Tech, TV, Mobile, Internet and Geek Corner
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Hi Leah! There is a mobile store next to Globus in Bellevue. They have a lot of people who speak English and even Spanish!! I always go there.

Would you be interested on a used cell phone? I can see if I have an old one you can use.....PM me!

By the way, if you are interested on babysitting on the weekend, you could use my internet at night when my husband and I are out and the children are sleeping...;o)

62
I am not sure why the bitching about not finding an open "free" wifi. For me if you find one then be thankful if not then I guess keep on trying. But on the other hand, most coffee shops offer some kind of free wifi connection.

63
swissmizz, could you suggest a good coffe shop with free wifi. or just a good coffee shop in general.

64
There are some hints in this thread, Leah:

http://www.englishforum.ch/daily-lif...ots-cafes.html

I wouldn't check my mails in an open WLAN though, I'm a bit paranoid in this regard.

65
Where as most people will hand a waiter their credit card and have no problem with them walking off with it to do who knows what with it..

66
Purchasing "Take Away" USB modem and plug it in while you sit on a bench in the park is actually cheaper than settling down in a restaurant or coffee shop to pay a cup of coffee for the "free Internet service."

Although McDonalds, Starbucks, some trainstations with Swisscom Wifi gives free 30min-1hour offer for the customers, the customers must bring their PC or other device for the net surfing.

67
Political Assylum Seeker,

I understand the point that you are trying to make, but either you didn't read the earlier parts of the thread where I explained that I am only here for two months (a month now actually, how time flies), or you know of some "take away" usb modem that I have not seen anywhere. Your statement would be true if I were going to be here for a long enough time that I could get a contract. However, if I were going to be here long enough to do that, I would be here long enough to get a phone line and my own internet connection, and this conversation would never even be happening. As it stands I would need to pay for a whole year of a contract with a "take away" modem, plus the price of the modem for a month of using it. A cup of coffee is much more affordable, and I like coffee. I just want to know where there is a coffee shop that I could sit and do work on my laptop without being out of place. Honestly, it doesn't really even need to have internet access.

68
First thing, Schwartz realises that Sun has a decent revenue from hardware, and that Solaris is going to loose market share to Linux in the future, so he's hedging his bets. As much as he'd like people to believe it he's not interested in open source at all.

Second thing, It's not cool to hate MS, you'll realise this when you get older.

Third thing, FON is a great idea but genrally there is no value to people in sharing their wifi when their only return is scattered and inconvieniet hotspots outside city centers.

Forth thing, Google Temenos and Odyssey

Final thing, sharing your wifi without something like FON is stupid, you are letting a stranger onto your network.

69
[quote=Leah;215610]Political Assylum Seeker,

I understand the point that you are trying to make, but either you didn't read the earlier parts of the thread where I explained that I am only here for two months (a month now actually, how time flies), or you know of some "take away" usb modem that I have not seen anywhere. [quote]

Sorry, if I miss this thread was for the people living in Switzerland for short-term less than a year. If someone living here for more than one year, he or she might be able to get the “Take Away” modem with deposit. In my case, I do not have B or C permit but still I could get one by making about 750 CHF for the deposit. I know it would cost much, but for the people using Swisscom 230CHF one month plan or Monsoon about 120CHF? plan, “Take Away” can be a reasonable option in a long term use. Actually, if someone use Wifi in restaurant or cafe more than once a day, it would cost more, you know.

Local library is also a good place to find a free or cheep internet access. Not only Kanton libraries but also Stadt libraries have Internet access. Some of them might require some fees while others only require annual or 6 month membership.

For short-term travelers staying more than one month, they might have chance for applying a membership at a local library which have free Wifi access for the members.

70
Only on GSM and GSM-deriviative networks.

Remember the OP is from the USA and they use all sorts of non-GSM wacky made-in-USA-so-must-be-better-than-anything-else mobile phone systems

USA phone people talk of needing the ESN to activate the phone - here in good old Europe, we need SIM cards to activate phones.

71
I had a day off yesterday: cocked my hat at a jaunty angle; stuffed a stogie in my mouth and headed into town to check out the reality of free WLAN in town using the iphone. It was quite a disappointment, most of the WLANs were secure, and there were few that were open (perhaps one every 200m or so). Assuming that these were intended for public use the blanket coverage now available in parts of London is not happening here yet. If it is it certainly isn't free. I took exception to one provider call "freeinternet", that in fact charges on your telephone bill. Misrepresentation, or what ?

The iphone does not give much feedback as to the status of its network connection and doesn't switch seamlessly between providers.

Basically you can check you email if you wander round for a few minutes, but it's still far more hassle that it should be, and the commercial hotspot providers are disperate enough to make it not worth subscribing. I noted also that Starbuck (where young professional people meet to talk about the things that they want to talk about) now gives out vouchers for their internet access...

dave

72
Off course we should all opne our wireless to everyone for Free. And while we are at it leave the house unlocked and hand out our bank details, leave the car unlocked with the keys in it.

Should'nt we all do this?

73
I presume you are responding to the original thread title, and not my recent post. Anyhow, I like the idea of companies offering some free bandwidth to benefit the community at large, even if some branding or advertising were included (eg always via their jump-page).

I'm not sure what you are getting at here, I don't think anyone is advocating opening anything other than an internet gateway.

dave

74
In the airport lounge they now also hand it out for free. You need to ask for it though. And the connection wasn't very stable. I had to re-enter the log-in details 5-6 times within an hour. So don't loose your card!

75
Get yourself WiFiFoFum running on a Windows Mobile device with GPS, and wander around with it in your pocket. Take the trams and busses. Walk. Ride your bike. Use your trotti. Roller skate. Or do it in style on a unicycle.

WiFiFoFum will happily sit there in your pocket and log all available WiFi hotspots together with their GPS location and signal strength and channel numbers and MAC addresses and whether they use WEP etc etc.

When you get home, dump the log file into Google Earth and you will have a pretty map showing all free wifi access points. Sort and filter to your hearts content.

Then throw the freebies into TomTom as a POI overlay file and you can easily navigate to any free WiFi location.

76
Yeah, I once pasted a link on the forum to a map of hotspot in central Zürich. It was a bit out of date though..

While I think Wardriving is a bit sad, it would be useful to know in an unfamiliar city where you need to check your mail...

dave

77
Is that a freeware? I have Win Mobile and GPS so I would definitely like to try that out.

78
Yup. See here .