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The Ethics of WiFi

 
  

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Mon Oncle Ignatius
19:35 / 05.10.05
Anna - sorry, reading backwards up the thread today. Silly me. Try PlusNet for broadband access at home too. They do a wires-only install for cheap, and know about Macs.
 
 
mondo a-go-go
14:47 / 06.10.05
grant, Ben Hammersley did something like that a few years ago, setting up a node for his whole street when wi-fi was just getting started, but not many other people have followed suit. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised that there aren't half a dozen wi-fi connections to jump on in my neighbourhood. Maybe it's because I'm four storeys up and they don't go that high.


There is a company that have started doing specific wi-fi deals, Now. It's only a tenner a month. But unfortunately, not available in my area yet. Bah.

Cherry, thanks for the tip. I think I might not go with them!

T-M, at the moment I'm using free wi-fi that's available publically. There are a couple of cafes I visit regularly, and there's the Mac store. You don't have to pay for the Mac store, but I prefer the cafes because I like sitting over a cup of Earl Grey and people-watching as well.
 
 
Smoothly
15:03 / 06.10.05
May I jump on this thread to ask a practical rather than ethical wi-fi question?
My girlfriend (today I'm calling her my Champagne breakfast) has given me an iBook for my birthday. I'm completely unaccustomed to Macs (I wouldn't be surprised if a 'Teach Smoothly about Macs' thread wasn't forthcoming in due course) but want to get wi-fi'ed up forthwith. I have a standard 2Mb ADSL broadband connection at home and dunno what equipment I should be looking at to unshakle my lovely new toy. An AirPort seems like the obvious thing, but maybe you have other ideas. Can anyone advise?
 
 
Axolotl
15:18 / 06.10.05
I read in the paper today (The Times) that Philedelphia is planning on setting up a city-wide wifi zone with access charged at $20 a month ($10 for those on a low income). Google has offered to do something similar in San Francisco. Apparently the phone/cable companies are jumping up and down in rage.
Sounds like a brilliant idea if you ask me, information flow as a public utility.
 
 
grant
16:00 / 06.12.05
New Orleans plans free wireless network, BellSouth yanks rebuilding support.

Heinous.

Ma Bell puts the hate on wireless.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
16:10 / 06.12.05
Well, Ben Hammersley had a T1 line running into his house. His dataflow made grown men cry.

Smoothly - I used a Netgear wireless router that I bought for my PCs to get my PowerBook online. It has a web-based interface, so it's a piece of piss - just hook it up with an ethernet cable, program the settings, then unplug the cable and see if it works. If not, plug back in and fiddle more. Apparently airports are even easier, but they do have the Mac premium.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
16:11 / 06.12.05
Oh, and:

(today I'm calling her my Champagne breakfast)

Drunk by 9? I can relate.
 
 
sleazenation
17:09 / 06.12.05
Netgear wireless routers wwork fine, and were terrifyingly cheap when I was browsing around the electricals section of Best Buy in the States last month... so if you are planning a trip in the near future...
 
 
Smoothly
18:06 / 06.12.05
Where were you boys two months ago? I went for an AirPort in the end, out of laziness and lack of confidence.
But I am planning a trip to the States in the new year, so I'll have to think of some other gadget to pick up for a song while I'm there, clawing back some of my reckless wifi overspend.

Cheers though. (And did you get your Gmail -> Mail problem sorted, Haus?)
 
 
w1rebaby
19:37 / 06.12.05
You want to be careful buying a router in the US. Neither myself nor my computer consultant flatmate could get mine working over here, quite regardless of the transformer that was required (a massive expensive metal brick). Something to do with the difference between PPPoA and PPPoE ADSL connections if I recall correctly. Buy it here, it'll end up easier and cheaper.

And yes, grant, disgraceful. But that's what happens when corporate largesse is thought to make up for actual public spending. That charity thing... for the most theoretical of libertarians only. Wifi incidentally I consider potentially an excellent example of infrastructure that can be provided on a public basis; if roads why not communications?
 
  

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