I thought I’d provide you with a third update this week – how lucky are you. Very. Anyway, today I was fiddling about with upgrading my router’s firmware and it reminded me of a service I had seen a few months prior. I visited the site again and was amazed to see how much FON had grown; both in community and business. FON is a huge worldwide movement to spread the adoption of broadband internet and to get people to share their connection with other members of the FON community. When I last visited FON they were providing refurbished third-party routers for €5 and their following wasn’t very widespread but today I dumbstruck at how much they’re advanced in only a few months. They’re now offering their own branded (and very small!) router, again, for €5 and have a huge community following on all continents as well as backing from Google, eBay and Skype. I want to tell you about FON and it’s wireless broadband movement.
What is FON?
FON is the largest WiFi community in the world – I doubt that can be contested. FON is a community of people who share their WiFi connection with others and in return they get to use other users’ connections for free. This simple concept has blossomed into what FON is today. FON is a community that cares about broadband and actively pushes the word about it out. It encourages people to share a a service. Though you may be thinking that sharing something you’re paying for is a little stupid, 
you get to use other people’s connections in return as well as the option of milking your service so that people have to pay to use your connection.
What does FON do for me?
When you’ve registered with FON, you can immediately use another member’s connection – for a price. Unless you’re also sharing your connection, you’ll have to pay to use their’s. But don’t dispair, a day-pass should be only €3 – that’s three Euros. Now, the good thing at the moment is that FON works in Euros even in the United Kingdom. This means that you’ll pay £2 for a day-pass of connection leeching. That’s not bad, come on. Go over and take a look at the amount of hotspots in the United Kingdom and you’ll see why it’s worth it. As a member, FON gives you three options: 1) don’t share your connection, just use others’ (for a fee), 2) share your connection for free and use other members’ connections for free, or 3) share your connection and recieve half of the cost of any people who are number 1 who use your connection.
How do I join FON?
It’s free to register as a FON member – a ‘fonero’ – but it’s sharing your broadband internet connection that really makes you a real ‘fonero’. Until December 31st 2006, FON are offering every new member the chance to pick up their new own-branded router for only €5 plus shipping charges and VAT. This is a great offer. If you buy the router, it comes to €17.40 for anyone living in the United Kingdom (and Europe, it looks). This may seem high but what if I said this was only £12. Twelve pounds. This is your chance to help spread the adoption of broadband internet and recieve a router for only £12. After December 31st, the price will rocket up to £42. Get in why you can and help.
Please take note though as this isn’t a chance to bag a cheap router. If you don’t activate it and share your connection for at least a year, you’ll be charged the full cost of the router or be asked to return it out of your own pocket. 
The router can be added to an existing router if your current router works both as a Gateway and a Router. If not, the FON router only provides wireless access and doesn’t let any other devices connect to it via wires. It is small, very small, and very sleek so will look very nice with any other router you have.
FON member types
As a member you can become one of three types: a Linus, a Bill or an Alien. Each one entitles you to different things but they all help spread the spirit of sharing and cheap broadband internet. To become a Linus, you have to buy the router and share your connection with other FON members for no charge. This entitles you to access other members’ connections for free as well. If you’re a Bill then you’ll recieve half of the €3 that any Alien pays to access your connection and you can advertise your business on a customised FON login page. Finally, if you’re an Alien then you haven’t yet setup to share your internet connection and you pay to access other members’ wireless connections.
Can it be that simple?
Although FON actively promotes broadband usage, some internet service providers aren’t that happy with it, some especially with the Bill members. Obviously, to share you broadband internet connection, you have to have one. This is provided by your ISP and here in the United Kingdom we’ve quite a few providers. Some have made their stance on FON quite clear and I’ll tell you which ISPs are friendly and which are not. Those that have stated they are FON friendly are Fondoo, The Phone Co-Op, Bulldog (Linus only) and Be (Linus only). The only ISP to say that it’s FON unfriendly is Virgin. I’ve contacted some other UK ISPs and hope to get their position soon.
My Final Thoughts
FON is now a worldwide movement but I bet that most of you have never heard of it before. FON is based on a simple principle – spreading the adoption of high-speed internet access around the world and sharing it with others. A few months ago they were small and providing second-hand third-party routers to its members. Now, they’ve generated funding from some of the most well known companies in the world. All this and in a space of 9 months – FON was first announced in January 2006! I think FON is amazing success story and it must be working because they’re still around. Looking at the maps of all the members are free hotspots, it has a large following around the world and the status of world’s biggest WiFi community is definately true.
When I first read that Google had invested in FON, I stopped. Google recently provided free WiFi access for the area around it’s headquarters in Mountain View, California and I recognised the significance. Is Google going to take over FON? I don’t think so, at least not yet. FON is very young and has only just started to walk and talk. But the fact that Google has invested in it does mean that Google sees promise in it. I do hope that FON continues to grow and spreads broadband into even more homes. Remember, sign up now! And if you want to share your connection, buy the router before 31st December 2006 otherwise you’ll have to pay £40 more for the equipment. FON is a great example of the Mozilla philosophy transplanted into a new area of technology and is doing well. Support the cause and principle now and join over 100,000 other FON members and rising.
