Fon?

[#1]

Are there any plans for plusnet to offer a service that allows users to access the fon network?
from what i understand its only available and accessible to those with BT broadband

[#2]

You could become a FON node yourself by contacting FON and then you get access to the FON network.

[#3]

I joined Fon www.fon.com before BT became involved. I believed since BT involvement the conditions for UK users are different to other countries especially if you are a Bill. A Bill is when you allow non Fon/BTfon access for a charge. Before BT involvement a Bill will get approximately 40% of what is charged, now a Bill will not see any of the money raised.

[#4]

Thanks for the reply, I was under the impression that it was exclusive to BT broadband customers, so if i buy a Fon router, plug that into a lan port on my speedtouch wifi router it will work on plusnet?

[#5]

its not clear from their Web site exactly how it works, I assume that with PN the usage must go down to the central and as such will come of your allowance with PN?, if not how does  it route trafic?

[#6]

With the FON routers you have two WiFi ssid's. A private one which is the same as any WiFI ssid on any router and a Public ssid. The public ssid have unique DNS servers and all traffic will be routed via FON and FON will keep a record on the amount of traffic that each public user is using, which can be viewed. The traffic on PN will be included in the normal usage unlike BT which does discard the BTFon usage.
An example what is recorded on the FON portal

Quote

LOGIN *    LOGOUT *           DURATION  TRAFFIC(dl/ul) Nickname 2010-11-20 22:15:22 2010-11-20 22:27:34 12m 12s 0.91MB / 0.11MB  LittleChom 2010-11-10 23:31:06 2010-11-10 23:42:17 11m 11s 1.19MB / 0.12MB LittleChom 2010-11-10 20:26:22 2010-11-10 21:39:42 1h 13m 20s 1.32MB / 0.31MB LittleChom 2010-11-10 14:59:30 2010-11-10 15:10:26 10m 56s 1.3MB / 0.17MB         LittleChom 2010-11-07 18:16:54 2010-11-07 18:28:19 11m 25s 1.13MB / 0.12MB LittleChom 2010-11-07 01:00:41 2010-11-07 02:05:10 1h 4m 29s 8.29MB / 2.13MB LittleChom 2010-11-06 15:32:59 2010-11-06 15:46:39 13m 40s 1.41MB / 0.22MB LittleChom

[#7]

thought so in that case, your Fon router can easily wipe out all your PN allowance
I have three Fon people in the short 20 house road opposite me

[#8]

Yes and no. You can set a limit on the speed which will stop any video streaming and as the Fon router plug into a LAN port of the main router you can block P2P to that particular port.

[#9]

Quote from: itsme

Yes and no. You can set a limit on the speed which will stop any video streaming and as the Fon router plug into a LAN port of the main router you can block P2P to that particular port.

Thanks for the replys, im guessing then that it does work on the plusnet network, as well as speed p2p blocking etc, is it also possible to limit how much data it uses? ( something like 1GB  max or so per month )

A few more questions, where to buy? my main interest in buying one is the chance to roam onto other wifi networks, i have a mobile phone with a 3G signal, that can connect to the tinternet, however the signal isnt that great ( low usage limits, technically against T&Cs for the mobile netowrk etc etc) and most of the places that i try and connect seem to have a BTFON hotspot accessible. Im asuming that if i get a Fon router, and sign up i will be able to access BTFon hotspots in the UK, and plain old Fon hotspots abroad for no aditional fee.
is that correct?

[#10]

You can't limit the amount downloaded but it's never been a problem as the people that sign up to Fon are like you that want to be able to connect to the internet when away from home for web browsing and collecting emails. Also for Fon users to be able to roam on to others wifi they have to leave their Fon routers on for others to roam on to if they do not they will have to pay. Also all roamers on to your wifi are logged and are contactable.

If you go the the Fon site https://www.fon.com/en/support/index#foneroLinusBillAlien and read about Linus, Bills and Aliens. I'm a Bill but I'm not sure whether this is still an option for UK users since BT involvement. The last time I looked at the site you received free minutes to BT Openzone sites in compensation that you could not be a Bill but reading the site now it seem that you do not receive the free minutes and there is no mention that you can't be a Bill in the UK.
You may be able to pick up a Fon router from ebay but the hassle free route will be to buy one direct from Fon as the MAC address of the router is locked to an account, if you buy a second-hand router then this will be registered to someone else.

[#11]

Quote from: itsme

...there is no mention that you can't be a Bill in the UK.

Looking at http://corp.fon.com/en/products/, it would appear you can't in the UK:

Quote

Make money from your WiFi* * This feature is not currently available in Japan, Russia or the United Kingdom.

[#12]

Aliens are still charged but not sure who pocket the money, BT or Fon or both. Luckily I joined before BT involvement so I still get a share of the money.