The dark side of offering free wireless internet access is showing. Freeloaders, those who might buy one cup of coffee at a coffee shop, or maybe even nothing at all are becomeing a problem for many shop owners. Some are reconsidering offering free WiFi or just unplugging it when it's a problem. Owners and consumers...
Anaheim's municipal wireless network was finally fired up. The network, installed and run by Earthlink is a taste of what's to come. The network has not had it's share of problems. Interference and poor infoor penetration are problems still being worked out. The network has no plans for free service, but does have reasonable cost...
US Wireless has won the contract to cover Pittsburgh's downtown business district and Golden Triangle and some other areas. The system will allow for 2 free hours a day with day passes and high speed passes for sale as well. US Wireless also operates networks in Los Angeles and Baton Rouge. Via [wirelessweek.com]
Wavesat and Texas Instruments are teaming up to create a mini-PCI module and reference design to allow the use of WiMAX in the unlicensed 5.8GHz frequency band. The plan is to employ Wavesat's Evolutive WiMAX DM256 chip and TI's RF silicon for the platform. "Because 5.8GHz is an unlicensed frequency band, it can be rapidly...
Some cafe owners in the U.S. are now fighting back against customers taking advantage of the free WiFi connection in their restaurants. Though the service attracts more customers, it also caused problems, i.e., some would buy nothing or if ever they purchase anything, it would be cheapest item. There are also instances when people would...
According to muniwireless.com, Wi-Fi systems have been deployed in nearly 60 U.S. cities and the goal is to add another 120 to the number. One of these cities is Chaska in Minnesota. Although considered a success by the Wi-Fi tracker website, Chaska's network had suffered problems like slow speeds and dead connections. Roberta Wiggins, a...
Taipei is gearing up to become the first city to have citywide VoIP service. It has launched the Taipei Easy Call project, which will enable mobile phones to switch from their existing connection to VoIP calls when they are within network coverage. The new service, according to the Taipei Computer Association, is likely to attract...
An Indiana hospital will soon have their nurses equiped with voice-over-Wi-Fi phones in an effort to boost their mobility. Hancock Regional Hospital in Greenfield, Indiana is currently assessing phones from Cisco Systems, Vocera Communications, and SpectraLink. The hospital's infrastructure is ready to support the new service. Last year, Hancock installed several Extreme's Altitude 350-2 access...
Trango Broadband Wireless, a privately-held company founded in San Diego in the 90s, makes connecting to the Internet possible just about anywhere. Trango uses radio spectrum that doesn't require a license and requires just a base-station radio and a subscriber radio. A base station (access point) runs about $1,000, and a subscriber radio can go...
About 23,000 Michigan school children, mostly sixth-graders, were handed wireless HP notebook PCs, instructed to start a self-directed learning program (complete with highly personalized computer instruction), and left to their own devices. 1,500 teachers also joined the experiment, and a survey shows the teachers found the students were more motivated, had better student-teacher interaction, and...
Blackberry addicts rejoice! WiFi/cellular dual mode is coming. The dual mode will mean that WiFi enabled business and campuses can reduce the cellular data usage, but still allow travel and roaming. Also planned is blackberry software for other devices such as palm handhelds. Via [techworld.com]
Hardware hackers have reclaimed the WRT54G v5 from Linksys. The version 5 of the ubiquitous wireless router swtiched from a linux based OS to a Vxworks proprietary system. The hackers have figured out a way to replace the bootloader with a linux friendly one and load linux onto them. The reduced memory of the version...
Cisco announced two severe vulnerabilities in Wireless Control System software. The vulnerabilities could lead to attackers gaining encryption keys, and in one case, full control of the administration utility. Cisco is planning an update soon. Via [informationweek.com]
Due to pressure from telco companies fearing subsidized competition, several states have passed regulations preventing municipalities from providing municipal WiFi services to it's residents. The US senate noticed this and is proposing legeslation that would allow municipalities to provide services, with some considerations for telco's. This legislation might have trouble though as it's caught in...
Nokia's found a great way to sell phones in New York -- offer free Wi-Fi Internet access networks in 10 major city parks (including Central Park), and make sure park visitors need one of your phones to tap into the service. Users need a phone like the Nokia N80 and N91 or the Nokia 770...