Já havia postado nesse Carnet sobre o Fon, uma comunidade de usuários wi-fi que compartilham suas conexões a baixos custos. Trata-se de uma forma de “linuxização” do wi-fi a partir de comunidades formadas compartilhando conexão sem fio. Quem é da comunidade acessa os hot spot de todos e quem não é pode acessar pagando pelo acesso de 1 a 4 dolares a hora. . Da Espanha eles querem conquistar o mundo e já colocam os pés na América. Vejam a matéria FON brings Wi-Fi to the people of San Francisco | CNET News.com:

“The Spanish start-up FON wants you to help it unwire San Francisco and other cities around the globe by providing ubiquitous Wi-Fi access.

On Friday, the company will give away its Wi-Fi routers that allow broadband subscribers to share their Internet connections with Wi-Fi users throughout their communities. “Freedom Friday”, as the company is calling the event, will kick-off at noon in San Francisco’s Union Square.

Spanish start-up FON is giving away Wi-Fi routers loaded with software that allows broadband subscribers to share their Internet connections with Wi-Fi users throughout their communities.
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This is where FON comes in. The company, which ironically counts Google as one of its backers, says it has a solution that can be deployed now at very little cost to the city or its residents.

“San Francisco or any other city doesn’t have to wait for new Wi-Fi networks to be built,” said Joanna Rees, chairman of U.S. operations for FON. “There are 400 million Wi-Fi connections around the world. If we could get all of them to become part of the FON community and share their Wi-Fi, we would have ubiquitous coverage around the world today. And we wouldn’t need to build municipal Wi-Fi networks.”

FON’s software allows broadband subscribers to split their Internet connection so that it offers a secure connection indoors and an open connection to people outside the home. Initially, the software could be downloaded onto existing home routers. But this proved too difficult for most people, so FON built its own small router called La Fonera.

The La Fonera router, which uses standard 802.11g technology, was introduced only a few weeks ago. It was designed for easy installation. Users simply plug the device into their existing broadband modem, and voila their broadband connection is converted into a FON access point.

Currently, about 112,000 La Fonera and FON-enabled routers have been registered with the company. To help spur adoption it’s been offering the routers on its Web site for $5 a piece. It’s also taking its promotion on the road, offering routers free in cities, such as San Francisco and New York, where it’s planning an East coast “Freedom” event for later this year.

Once users have registered, they become part of the FON community, which allows them free access to any FON hot spot in the world. Non-FON members can also access the network, but they must pay $1 or $2 for 24 hours of access. This small fee is actually how FON generates revenue.”