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This is quite common in Europe. In fact this sounds exactly how the BT FON crowdsourced wifi network works: https://www.btfon.com https://www.btfon.com The ope

by abalone 12y ago

This is quite common in Europe. In fact this sounds exactly how the BT FON crowdsourced wifi network works: https://www.btfon.com https://www.btfon.com The opening line of the article's totally wrong in saying this "would be inconceivable if it was any other company than Comcast".

_pmf_ 12y ago
> This is quite common in Europe. The fuck it is.
- sillysaurus3 12y ago
  Parent comment provided a source.
  - huhtenberg 12y ago
    But not for the actual claim of "quite common in Europe". I am in Europe it's inconceivable that any common carrier would try and pull a stunt like this here.
    - DanBC 12y ago
      UK doesn't have any concept of "commin carrier". BT, a large company in the UK, has done exactly this, using a collaboration with FON to start but using their own tech now. This has been happening for years. http://ais.globalservices.bt.com/static/assets/insights_and_ideas/innovation/pdf/CS_openwifi%20innovation.pdf http://ais.globalservices.bt.com/static/assets/insights_and_... EDIT: the wikipedia article shows many FON collaborations with large telecoms providers across Europe.
      - huhtenberg 12y ago
        Yep, except Fon has an opt-out option, it's opt-in to begin with in a lot of places and it's done with user's knowledge and explicit permission, not behind their backs as Comcast did it. So, no, what Comcast did is not quite common in Europe.
        deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
        lotsofmangos 12y ago
        Comcast's service has an opt out option and was announced a year ago. I don't like to be standing up for them, but you are misrepresenting things a bit.
    - lotsofmangos 12y ago
      Here's Fon's figures from 8 years ago - 1 – Spain – 6344 (28 new yesterday) registered users 2 – United States – 6334 (11 new yesterday) registered users 3 – France – 2571 (15 new yesterday) registered users 4 – Germany – 1302 (12 new yesterday) registered users 5 – Italy – 1269 (15 new yesterday) registered users 6 – United Kingdom – 1039 (4 new yesterday) registered users 7 – Netherlands – 760 (2 new yesterday) registered users 8 – Sweden – 721 (1 new yesterday) registered users 9 – Argentina – 636 (3 new yesterday) registered users 10 – Canada – 382 (0 new yesterday) registered users 11 – Switzerland – 331 (1 new yesterday) registered users 12 – Belgium – 296 (0 new yesterday) registered users 13 – Portugal – 237 (0 new yesterday) registered users 14 – Mexico – 208 (0 new yesterday) registered users 15 – Japan – 198 (2 new yesterday) registered users 16 – Chile – 195 (0 new yesterday) registered users 17 – Austria – 177 (1 new yesterday) registered users 18 – Ireland – 170 (0 new yesterday) registered users 19 – Brazil – 169 (0 new yesterday) registered users 20 – Denmark – 135 (1 new yesterday) registered users 21 – Israel – 129 (0 new yesterday) registered users 22 – Norway – 125 (0 new yesterday) registered users 23 – China – 120 (0 new yesterday) registered users 24 – Australia – 109 (1 new yesterday) registered users 25 – Finland – 108 (0 new yesterday) registered users 26 – Poland – 85 (0 new yesterday) registered users 27 – India – 77 (1 new yesterday) registered users 28 – Colombia – 74 (0 new yesterday) registered users 29 – Venezuela – 71 (0 new yesterday) registered users 30 – Estonia – 63 (0 new yesterday) registered users http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/fon/fonas-top-30-countries-usaspain.html http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/fon/fonas-top-30-countrie... and their current map - http://maps.fon.com/ http://maps.fon.com/
      - huhtenberg 12y ago
        And how many are auto-enabled by the ISPs without any notice and no way to opt-out?
        lotsofmangos 12y ago
        How do I disable/enable the XFINITY WiFi Home Hotspot feature? We encourage all subscribers to keep this feature enabled as it allows more people to enjoy the benefits of XFINITY WiFi around the neighborhood. You will always have the ability to disable the XFINITY WiFi feature on your Wireless Gateway by calling 1-800-XFINITY. You can also visit My Account at http://customer.comcast.com/ http://customer.comcast.com/, click on “Users & Preferences”, and then select “Manage XFINITY WiFi.” http://wifi.comcast.com/faqs.html http://wifi.comcast.com/faqs.html edit - and it was announced in June of last year apparently. Though they may have had a sign on the door saying 'beware of the leopard'.
- daveoflynn 12y ago
  I live in France & all the major telcos* do this. It's an advertised part of the services. * At least: Orange, Bouygues, SFR, Free.
- 1gn1t10n 12y ago
  I know for a fact that at least two major ISPs in France already do this (SFR, Free).
  - illumen 12y ago
    and in Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Which covers quite a lot of Europe already, not even counting the rest of the places that do this.
- mverwijs 12y ago
  Both the Netherlands and Belgium have ISPs that do this, with the slight difference that they Wifi is only accessible to customers of the same ISP.
- aspidistra 12y ago
  As well as those listed by other commenters, there are other FON collaborations listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTFON#Collaborations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTFON#Collaborations Belgium, Germany, Greece, Jersey...
- zo1 12y ago
  We also have it in Africa... Although only relatively new.
- lotsofmangos 12y ago
  look at this map - http://www.btfon.com/maps http://www.btfon.com/maps
lucaspiller 12y ago
I had BT broadband a few years ago and we had this then. There were actually thee hotspots: mine, one called "BT Openzone" and one called "BT Fon". When they launched this in 2007 they had 3,000,000 customers [0], which I think they automatically opted in. It was a good idea, but I never found it useful. It was only on residential broadband, and I never found myself hanging out in residential areas (if I went to a friends house they would just give me their wifi password). [0] http://www.btfon.com/images/media/common/btfonLaunch041007.pdf http://www.btfon.com/images/media/common/btfonLaunch041007.p...
- slipstream- 12y ago
  I was once away for a while where the only access I had was to one of these. I ended up partially bypassing the paywall after a couple of hours of poking around.
justincormack 12y ago
The BT one never really worked for me. But wifi with stupid login pages is pretty broken if you want seamless access. I disabled it by putting my own modem in when I was on BT broadband.

by abalone 12y ago

_pmf_ 12y ago

> This is quite common in Europe. The fuck it is.

sillysaurus3 12y ago
Parent comment provided a source.
- huhtenberg 12y ago
  But not for the actual claim of "quite common in Europe". I am in Europe it's inconceivable that any common carrier would try and pull a stunt like this here.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    UK doesn't have any concept of "commin carrier". BT, a large company in the UK, has done exactly this, using a collaboration with FON to start but using their own tech now. This has been happening for years. http://ais.globalservices.bt.com/static/assets/insights_and_ideas/innovation/pdf/CS_openwifi%20innovation.pdf http://ais.globalservices.bt.com/static/assets/insights_and_... EDIT: the wikipedia article shows many FON collaborations with large telecoms providers across Europe.
    - huhtenberg 12y ago
      Yep, except Fon has an opt-out option, it's opt-in to begin with in a lot of places and it's done with user's knowledge and explicit permission, not behind their backs as Comcast did it. So, no, what Comcast did is not quite common in Europe.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
      - lotsofmangos 12y ago
        Comcast's service has an opt out option and was announced a year ago. I don't like to be standing up for them, but you are misrepresenting things a bit.
  - lotsofmangos 12y ago
    Here's Fon's figures from 8 years ago - 1 – Spain – 6344 (28 new yesterday) registered users 2 – United States – 6334 (11 new yesterday) registered users 3 – France – 2571 (15 new yesterday) registered users 4 – Germany – 1302 (12 new yesterday) registered users 5 – Italy – 1269 (15 new yesterday) registered users 6 – United Kingdom – 1039 (4 new yesterday) registered users 7 – Netherlands – 760 (2 new yesterday) registered users 8 – Sweden – 721 (1 new yesterday) registered users 9 – Argentina – 636 (3 new yesterday) registered users 10 – Canada – 382 (0 new yesterday) registered users 11 – Switzerland – 331 (1 new yesterday) registered users 12 – Belgium – 296 (0 new yesterday) registered users 13 – Portugal – 237 (0 new yesterday) registered users 14 – Mexico – 208 (0 new yesterday) registered users 15 – Japan – 198 (2 new yesterday) registered users 16 – Chile – 195 (0 new yesterday) registered users 17 – Austria – 177 (1 new yesterday) registered users 18 – Ireland – 170 (0 new yesterday) registered users 19 – Brazil – 169 (0 new yesterday) registered users 20 – Denmark – 135 (1 new yesterday) registered users 21 – Israel – 129 (0 new yesterday) registered users 22 – Norway – 125 (0 new yesterday) registered users 23 – China – 120 (0 new yesterday) registered users 24 – Australia – 109 (1 new yesterday) registered users 25 – Finland – 108 (0 new yesterday) registered users 26 – Poland – 85 (0 new yesterday) registered users 27 – India – 77 (1 new yesterday) registered users 28 – Colombia – 74 (0 new yesterday) registered users 29 – Venezuela – 71 (0 new yesterday) registered users 30 – Estonia – 63 (0 new yesterday) registered users http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/fon/fonas-top-30-countries-usaspain.html http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/fon/fonas-top-30-countrie... and their current map - http://maps.fon.com/ http://maps.fon.com/
    - huhtenberg 12y ago
      And how many are auto-enabled by the ISPs without any notice and no way to opt-out?
      - lotsofmangos 12y ago
        How do I disable/enable the XFINITY WiFi Home Hotspot feature? We encourage all subscribers to keep this feature enabled as it allows more people to enjoy the benefits of XFINITY WiFi around the neighborhood. You will always have the ability to disable the XFINITY WiFi feature on your Wireless Gateway by calling 1-800-XFINITY. You can also visit My Account at http://customer.comcast.com/ http://customer.comcast.com/, click on “Users & Preferences”, and then select “Manage XFINITY WiFi.” http://wifi.comcast.com/faqs.html http://wifi.comcast.com/faqs.html edit - and it was announced in June of last year apparently. Though they may have had a sign on the door saying 'beware of the leopard'.
daveoflynn 12y ago
I live in France & all the major telcos* do this. It's an advertised part of the services. * At least: Orange, Bouygues, SFR, Free.
1gn1t10n 12y ago
I know for a fact that at least two major ISPs in France already do this (SFR, Free).
- illumen 12y ago
  and in Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Which covers quite a lot of Europe already, not even counting the rest of the places that do this.
mverwijs 12y ago
Both the Netherlands and Belgium have ISPs that do this, with the slight difference that they Wifi is only accessible to customers of the same ISP.
aspidistra 12y ago
As well as those listed by other commenters, there are other FON collaborations listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTFON#Collaborations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTFON#Collaborations Belgium, Germany, Greece, Jersey...
zo1 12y ago
We also have it in Africa... Although only relatively new.
lotsofmangos 12y ago
look at this map - http://www.btfon.com/maps http://www.btfon.com/maps

lucaspiller 12y ago

I had BT broadband a few years ago and we had this then. There were actually thee hotspots: mine, one called "BT Openzone" and one called "BT Fon". When they launched this in 2007 they had 3,000,000 customers [0], which I think they automatically opted in. It was a good idea, but I never found it useful. It was only on residential broadband, and I never found myself hanging out in residential areas (if I went to a friends house they would just give me their wifi password). [0] http://www.btfon.com/images/media/common/btfonLaunch041007.pdf http://www.btfon.com/images/media/common/btfonLaunch041007.p...

slipstream- 12y ago
I was once away for a while where the only access I had was to one of these. I ended up partially bypassing the paywall after a couple of hours of poking around.

justincormack 12y ago

The BT one never really worked for me. But wifi with stupid login pages is pretty broken if you want seamless access. I disabled it by putting my own modem in when I was on BT broadband.