Wi-Fi

Very few homes with internet connections don’t have Wi-Fi running throughout the home. Yet much about Wi-Fi is misunderstood. It is not necessarily a means of connecting to the internet, though that is one of its functions. It is a way for multiple devices to communicate with one another. When you connect your laptop to a Wi-Fi network, you’re actually communicating with a router or modem. That router or modem carries an internet signal, which it shares, via the Wi-Fi network, with your laptop.

Wi-Fi internet networks are popping up at all sorts of places. Here we’ll track the latest hotspot initiatives and other developments in the realm of Wi-Fi.

Qwest latest to offer Wi-Fi deal

May 7, 2009

It seems that every cable and broadband provider is eager to offer its customers free Wi-Fi access at hotspots around their region or even the entire country. And why not? Cable companies have profited handsomely as a result of offering Wi-Fi services. The latest to hop aboard the train is Qwest. The are ready to [...]

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Verizon jumps on free Wi-Fi bandwagon

May 4, 2009

Not long after Verizon criticized Cablevision over their “marketing trick” of offering customers free Wi-Fi, they’ve gone and done it themselves. The company is aiming to launch Wi-Fi services to their home broadband customers by this summer, according to The Wall Street Journal. This not only mimics the cable subscribers that Verizon has criticized, but [...]

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Will a Wi-Fi pocket radio catch on?

May 1, 2009

The Internet has been a boon for music, and now its starting to spread to the mobile Web. Many smartphones now have the Pandora application available, which can run right off the cellular data network. The next step, then, is a devise used solely for Internet radio. That’s what Epoq is trying. They plan to [...]

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Cablevision to boost WiFi speeds soon

April 30, 2009

The big news in wired broadband this week was Cablevision’s decision to pump 101 Mbps into homes starting May 11. This is an unprecedented speed level, though at least one competitor has called the offering a “parlor trick,” claiming there is no demand for such speeds. This same competitor also called Cablevision’s Wi-Fi offering a [...]

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Virgin adds Wi-Fi to train routes in UK

April 29, 2009

While we’re just starting to see Wi-Fi on busses in the US, it looks like they’re going for trains in the UK. Virgin Trains has just announced Wi-Fi access on all its Pendolino trains, which run the West Coast of the country. Services like this make public transportation more palatable. Not only can riders use [...]

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AT&T reports 10.5 million WiFi connections in Q1

April 24, 2009

If we’re to extrapolate AT&T’s WiFi hotspot connections, we might think that WiFi is getting popular all the sudden. The company reported 10.5 million WiFi connections in the the first quarter. The company has 20,000 hotspots across the country, including a deal with Starbucks. For AT&T, this is by design. They’ve ramped up their efforts [...]

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Find local Wi-Fi hotspots with WeFi

April 22, 2009

One of the limitations of Wi-Fi is that the signal extends only so far. This is why it’s not a more highly-adopted platform for wireless delivery. Thankfully, there are an increasing number of hotspots around the country, so people don’t have to tote their laptops far to find one. That’s the issue, though: how do [...]

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Cable companies wise to offer Wi-Fi

April 17, 2009

The new new thing for cable companies is to offer subscribers either in order to retain existing ones or to attract new ones. Cablevision found great success in offering these services to their Long Island customers, and Comcast is is cooking up a plan of their own. This could just be the beginning, though. An [...]

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Greyhound to offer Wi-Fi on bus routes

April 8, 2009

The introduction of Wi-Fi on airplanes has been a big development from 2008 into 2009, but Greyhound is looking to make an even bigger splash. The age-old bus company has announced free Wi-Fi service on bus routes. Not only that, but they’ve also included power outlets on its routes — plus additional legroom, which is [...]

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Cablevision picks up subscribers with Wi-Fi

March 12, 2009

One thing cable companies are trying in order to gain market share is to offer Wi-Fi services to subscribers. We learned late last year that Cablevision doubled the size of its Wi-Fi network, which stretches across its prime real estate, Long Island. The effort, it appears, has paid off. According to the Dell’Oro Group, Wi-Fi [...]

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Alaska Airlines testing in-flight Wi-Fi

March 2, 2009

Once upon a time, we were almost totally disconnected from the world when flying. No Internet, no cell phones. Yet we’ve been seeing calls for both over the past year or so. While little or no progress has been made on the cell phone front — thankfully — we’ve seen a number of airlines test [...]

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Could stimulus package bring back municipal Wi-Fi?

February 24, 2009

One thing we’ve learned over the past few years: Muni-Fi projects aren’t the slam dunk they were once thought to be. In fact, we’ve seen more fail than succeed. So where does this leave us? Without municipal Wi-Fi projects? It did seem that way for a while, but now there’s a chance that the fiscal [...]

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Wi-Fi usage up in the U.S. and Western Europe

February 17, 2009

For years manufacturers have installed Wi-Fi cards in laptops right at the factory. That’s how long we’ve been enjoying this form of wireless Internet in the U.S. Yet, despite its age, Wi-Fi continues to find more users. Of course, it helps when every other coffee shop and laundromat you walk by advertises their access. It [...]

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BART riders will soon get Wi-Fi

February 4, 2009

BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, moves with technology. The 104-mile commuter rail was one of the first to implement a system whereby riders pay for their fare via a cell phone. Soon, they’ll roll out a Wi-Fi service which will cover the entire track, and which will be provided by the appropriately-named WiFi [...]

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