quantass
05-28-2004, 10:29 PM
A number of sites as well as Robert Cringley have made suggestions (and if i understood them correctly) of offering WIFI Wireless Access Points to regular people with broadband access in order to create a vast WIFI network which many can log onto for the internet, VoIP, etc. The service would supply these WAPs free of charge to any broadband capable consumer who wanted it (actually since it is free and there should be many takers the service provider can select the apporpriate clients who receive these WAPs). Those consumers apart of the network utilizing their broadband acess would receive access to the entire network for free whereas every one else (ie. dialup users) would pay a nominal fee to have access. A suggestion was also made about charging anyone who wanted the WAP a $30/mon fee but depending on the WAPs usage from roaming customers the user would receive a cheque for his participation which could cover the monthly cost and perhaps the cost of broadband.
The articles read do a much better job at explaining this creation of a full WIFI meshed network. From what i've read I can see a very high startup cost but besides that WHY hasnt someone taken the initiative and done something like this? Is the WIFI range just not that good for something like this, perhaps the capacity, or the overall speeds ? To me those hotspots are just worthless wereas cellphone like ubiquitous coverage is the future.
The articles read do a much better job at explaining this creation of a full WIFI meshed network. From what i've read I can see a very high startup cost but besides that WHY hasnt someone taken the initiative and done something like this? Is the WIFI range just not that good for something like this, perhaps the capacity, or the overall speeds ? To me those hotspots are just worthless wereas cellphone like ubiquitous coverage is the future.