Fon Wireless Router

[#1]

Hi, bit of advice please, I've just started subscribing to Pc Advisor again and part of the deal was a free wi-fi router.
When it was delivered the other day, it is a fon wireless router, i have never heard of this before but apparently its a big company and part of the deal when you register is, my router acts as a hot spot, in other words if I travel and I'm part of the system i can go wireless providing there is a fon hot spot. Same as anyone in my area travelling could use my hotspot.
I have not  registered yet but thought I'd ask first if anyone knows any thing about it, the thing that bothers me is I would have my private WiFi and a public one, its the public side of it that is concerning me, it plugs into my Bt voyager router, would plusnet have any objections and so on?
I thought it would be handy for when the Grandson came, he could go online with his laptop.
If anyone could advise please
regards
jono

[#2]

Dont forget anyone who logs onto your network takes a lot of your bandwidth.
It is a new system that is just rolling out, I doubt that Plusnet would object, but as you are paying the bill you might.
Just been roaming way up north, no sign of my usage on my bill, it went onto the person who I was using, with their knowledge.

[#3]

Thanks for the help, that's the part i don't like, there are a few PC advisor customers like myself that are not too happy about the router they have received.
What I should have done when joining Plusnet 4 months ago, I should have thought more about it, the  wireless router would have been a better choice , instead of the cabled voyager 210, trouble is i have never had WiFi so plumbed for the Voyager, which i may say is no bother. The Grandson has a laptop so a WiFi would have been Ideal.
thanks for reply, I think i will just pass on using it.
regards
jono

[#4]

I have been using FON for several months without any problems. PN does not object to it. BT also push this with the homehub via www.btfon.com so you will have access to these as well and BT have better coverage in the UK than FON.
The public and private networks are on different subnets and you can control whether these subnets have access to each other or not.

[#5]

Hi Itsme, Have just posted a reply to pierre pierre about it, when I read the Fon guide lines on the there page I got the impression that if I registered i would have to keep my router on 24/7 to allow anyone to use my bandwidth, i only wanted the private side of it, i also read about BT's connection with them and there is a few other companies mentioned. As I don't use my computer away from home, I don't have any interest in the public side of it.
thanks for the advice though, i had a look on Google map and there appears to be quite a few in my area have Fon routers.
regards
jono

[#6]

I don't know too much about FON, but a friend of mine got one as FON were giving them away free at one point.
I would assume the PC Advisor one is the same.
I don't know if it is possible to have one set up without sharing your broadband access. Personally its not something I would be keen on doing, mainly because it comes out of your usage allowance so if you don't have a lot (say BBYW option 1) and someone batters it .. Also I would be concerned with what would be accessed as well, especially with certain types of illegal stuff (and I wouldn't like to have my account associated with it).
I remember reading something about it, that technically it could go against some ISP's T&Cs. Not sure if this would be the case with PlusNet.
To be honest with the cost of wireless routers nowadays .. I got a refurbished wireless spare for about £16 from http://www.dsldepot.co.uk.
Though having a look at them now, it seems all their routers are wired only, but I am sure you'll be able to find something.

[#7]

Hi Jono,
If you have decided not to subscribe for the FON service and therefore won't be able to use the free wireless router, you may still be able to create a wireless access point using your PC.  I assume that you use Windows XP on your computer.  You need to get hold of a wireless adaptor e.g a USB stick like this, or a PCI wireless card like these.  You may be able to borrow one free from a friend, or pick up one from ebay for even less money.  Either way, once you have it installed along with any drivers on your PC, follow these instructions to create a network bridge to allow your grandson to connect to the Internet through your PC's wireless adaptor.
Hope this helps.

[#8]

Hi, thanks for all the advice, Mickki i use Vista home Premium and as far as know when checking through my computers info there is no wireless card fitted which surprised me as its only just over a year old.
As I commented in one of the posts above , if i had thought about it when I first joined Plusnet I should have got the Wireless router instead of the cabled one.
One thing I've decided I'm not going to bother with the Fon setup.
regards to all
jono

[#9]

The Fon router can be hacked and flashed with DD-WRT firmware. See here for instructions. I hacked one of my Fon routers (I have 4 as Fon shipped me 3 free ones). Hacking is not easy but follow the instructions carefully it can be done and it's worth doing. The DD-WRT firmware is impressive so much so that I flashed my main wireless router with it, this is a Linksys WRT54G.