Posts Tagged ‘FONERA Stone’

With over half a million WiFi access points, FON operates the world’s largest WiFi community.  The company built this network by providing customers with low cost routers, which are added to the FON network and can be accessed for free by all FON subscribers.  The company even gives you a cut of revenue generated when new users sign up through your hotspot.

To date, FON’s routers have been of the typical hard book-sized variety.  However today, the company passed a compact router called the FONERA Stone (FON2305B) through the FCC.

The Stone connects to your existing broadband modem, and provides 802.11 b/g/n connectivity.  All you need to do is plug in the router and register with FON, and you’re all set to join the FON community.

Although it may be a bit disconcerting to share your WiFi network with strangers, FON assures that your WiFi signal is secure so other FON users can’t access your network.  You can also choose how much bandwidth you want to share, so your Internet connection isn’t slowed by other users.

It’s an innovative business model, although at least in the Bay Area I don’t see too many FON networks.  Ideally, the FONERA Stone will come with a very low price point, encouraging users to set up their own FON networks and thereby expanding the FON community.