Active Topics
-
The N900 is now 15 years old! (7)
to Nokia N900 by Danct12 - 1 day, 8 hrs ago -
Sailfish OS for the Motorola Moto G7 Power (XT1955-5) - (ocean) (4)
to SailfishOS by Maemish - 2 days, 3 hrs ago -
F(x)tec Pro1x (QWERTY) for sale (0)
to Buy & Sell by aln00000 - 4 days, 12 hrs ago - more...
|
2007-11-01
, 15:14
|
|
Posts: 10 |
Thanked: 1 time |
Joined on Oct 2007
@ UK
|
#12
|
Originally Posted by Texrat
From The Register (as linked on another thread here)
The review I just linked in the Apple vs Nokia thread indicates that the 3G network can be as fast as wifi. There's your ubiquitous mobile infrastructure, folks.
"3 UK's excellent high-speed HSDPA network blankets much of the country - and you can access it from a laptop with a monthly tariff that's about the same as the price of an hour's Wi-Fi. [...] RIP, public Wi-Fi."
Only trouble is, unless I'm missing something, you can get a USB modem on that "mobile broadband" tariff for £10/month, but if you want the same tariff with a 'phone, for a bluetooth connection to an N800, you have to add the £10/month broadband option to an existing monthly contract, the cheapest of which is £15/month (and being that my average monthly mobile call bill is about £1.24, I don't care how many minutes/texts it includes).
|
|
2007-11-01
, 15:25
|
|
Posts: 3,841 |
Thanked: 1,079 times |
Joined on Nov 2006
|
#13
|
I own one of those USB modems. If I had a 3G phone I could just move the SIM card from the USB modem to the phone, with no extra cost (provided that I didn't already have a contract for the phone, of course).. the possibility of moving the SIM card to a phone is even mentioned in the carrier papers I got with the USB modem. I'm not in the UK though, if that makes a difference. However, I can't see any _technical_ problems with just moving the SIM card to a phone.
__________________
N800/OS2007|N900/Maemo5
-- Metalayer-crawler delenda est.
-- Current state: Fed up with everything MeeGo.
N800/OS2007|N900/Maemo5
-- Metalayer-crawler delenda est.
-- Current state: Fed up with everything MeeGo.
 |
|
2007-11-01
, 15:25
|
|
Posts: 11,700 |
Thanked: 10,045 times |
Joined on Jun 2006
@ North Texas, USA
|
#14
|
rs-px, I agree with you philosophically. I just see so much inertia against ubiquitous wifi, even something like FON. I would love to see an organic grassroots effort at creating that democratic wifi infrastructure, but I fear the Maintainers of the Almighty Status Quo will succeed in damaging it if not killing it outright somehow (just watch the industry-whoring FCC find some sort of fault with FON).
Just look how telcos twisted the debate over net neutrality: their spin doctors managed to co-opt the debate entirely and flip the positions to where it appeared net neutrality advocates were the ones wanting a gated internet! The public is too technically ignorant to know any better and too sheepish to learn enough to fight this sort of crap. All they want is a connection, and if the telcos provide it at a price just short of fatal, regardless of how painful, they'll take it.
I want extradomestic wifi to live long and prosper, but it looks to me like FON or no FON, it's losing momentum...
Just look how telcos twisted the debate over net neutrality: their spin doctors managed to co-opt the debate entirely and flip the positions to where it appeared net neutrality advocates were the ones wanting a gated internet! The public is too technically ignorant to know any better and too sheepish to learn enough to fight this sort of crap. All they want is a connection, and if the telcos provide it at a price just short of fatal, regardless of how painful, they'll take it.
I want extradomestic wifi to live long and prosper, but it looks to me like FON or no FON, it's losing momentum...
__________________
Nokia Developer Champion
Different <> Wrong | Listen - Judgment = Progress | People + Trust = Success
My personal site: http://texrat.net
Nokia Developer Champion
Different <> Wrong | Listen - Judgment = Progress | People + Trust = Success
My personal site: http://texrat.net
|
|
2007-11-01
, 15:50
|
|
Posts: 255 |
Thanked: 15 times |
Joined on Oct 2007
@ United Kingdom
|
#15
|
Originally Posted by Texrat
I think there's a real US/Europe divide in our outlooks and observations
rs-px, I agree with you philosophically. I just see so much inertia against ubiquitous wifi, even something like FON. I would love to see an organic grassroots effort at creating that democratic wifi infrastructure, but I fear the Maintainers of the Almighty Status Quo will succeed in damaging it if not killing it outright somehow (just watch the industry-whoring FCC find some sort of fault with FON).
Just look how telcos twisted the debate over net neutrality: their spin doctors managed to co-opt the debate entirely and flip the positions to where it appeared net neutrality advocates were the ones wanting a gated internet! The public is too technically ignorant to know any better and too sheepish to learn enough to fight this sort of crap. All they want is a connection, and if the telcos provide it at a price just short of fatal, regardless of how painful, they'll take it.
I want extradomestic wifi to live long and prosper, but it looks to me like FON or no FON, it's losing momentum...
I'm in the UK, by the way. Maybe FON is more likely to succeed in Europe and South America because we're more amenable to *cough* communistic ideas like FON
In Europe, corporations have far less lobbying power (unless you want to start spinning conspiracy theories). But if the Internet proves anything, it is that users can't be forced into anything. AOL and Microsoft would have liked to own the Web back in 1997, via their portals, and many predicted they would do so. But they failed.
If people currently use per-minute 3G data access, it's almost certainly because nothing better is available.
Plus, I don't see how FON can be stopped. The routers are cheap, and that's all you need to get involved. Here in the UK you don't even have to buy a new router if you already have a BT Broadband router (and BT is probably the latest ISP in the country). BT has altered the firmware of all its routers to be FON compatible.
|
|
2007-11-01
, 15:59
|
|
Posts: 3,841 |
Thanked: 1,079 times |
Joined on Nov 2006
|
#16
|
Originally Posted by rs-px
Out of curiosity, what's needed to be FON compatible?
Here in the UK you don't even have to buy a new router if you already have a BT Broadband router (and BT is probably the latest ISP in the country). BT has altered the firmware of all its routers to be FON compatible.
__________________
N800/OS2007|N900/Maemo5
-- Metalayer-crawler delenda est.
-- Current state: Fed up with everything MeeGo.
N800/OS2007|N900/Maemo5
-- Metalayer-crawler delenda est.
-- Current state: Fed up with everything MeeGo.
 |
|
2007-11-01
, 16:07
|
|
Posts: 274 |
Thanked: 62 times |
Joined on Jul 2007
@ Helotes, TX
|
#17
|
I currently tether my N800 to my Nokia 6555 for 3G access and am very satisfied with the results. Only complaint is that battery life on the 6555 when doing this sucks bigtime.
If a tablet with cellular came out, I would not buy it.
If a tablet with cellular came out, I would not buy it.
|
|
2007-11-01
, 16:08
|
|
Posts: 11,700 |
Thanked: 10,045 times |
Joined on Jun 2006
@ North Texas, USA
|
#18
|
Originally Posted by rs-px
I'll qualify that by adding "or practical".
If people currently use per-minute 3G data access, it's almost certainly because nothing better is available.
Also, 3G payment plans don't *have* to be per minute, and I'm betting that in the US we'll see more flat-rate plans of that sort before we see a recovery of the ubiquitous wifi effort. Note that Earthlink and other providers have been scrapping their grandiose plans.
Don't get me wrong: I'd really like to be as optimistic today as I was even weeks ago. But I'm presently very discouraged.
__________________
Nokia Developer Champion
Different <> Wrong | Listen - Judgment = Progress | People + Trust = Success
My personal site: http://texrat.net
Nokia Developer Champion
Different <> Wrong | Listen - Judgment = Progress | People + Trust = Success
My personal site: http://texrat.net
|
|
2007-11-01
, 17:38
|
|
Posts: 41 |
Thanked: 3 times |
Joined on Oct 2007
|
#19
|
Originally Posted by rs-px
Canada too (except for the lobbying bit):
Maybe FON is more likely to succeed in Europe and South America because we're more amenable to *cough* communistic ideas like FON
http://arstechnica.com/articles/cult...ms-own-ISP.ars
 |
|
2007-11-01
, 17:55
|
|
Posts: 1,361 |
Thanked: 115 times |
Joined on Oct 2005
@ Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|
#20
|
I don't have a cell phone. While I think they're on of the most annoying and intrusive devices ever conceived of much less brought to production, the draconian contract system of the carriers is absolutely ridiculous.
If all the contract BS was wiped aside, yeah, I might get one. But it's totally silly as is. Cell phones used to be for business, which is where all of these stupid terms and conditions and micro billing sprouted from. When they moved to the mass market, idiots signed on board despite being screwed at every turn.
In Ontario (Canada) where I'm from, I looked into cell phones with data plans. I thought my internet tablet would be the cats *** if I could tether it to a phone and be online during my cumulative 2 hour long commute. They want like $30 a month for *2MB*. *$30*. I could load the cnn.com home page 6 times a month. Whoop dee doo.
If all the contract BS was wiped aside, yeah, I might get one. But it's totally silly as is. Cell phones used to be for business, which is where all of these stupid terms and conditions and micro billing sprouted from. When they moved to the mass market, idiots signed on board despite being screwed at every turn.
In Ontario (Canada) where I'm from, I looked into cell phones with data plans. I thought my internet tablet would be the cats *** if I could tether it to a phone and be online during my cumulative 2 hour long commute. They want like $30 a month for *2MB*. *$30*. I could load the cnn.com home page 6 times a month. Whoop dee doo.
| The Following User Says Thank You to Hedgecore For This Useful Post: | ||
If I use wifi, I get a fairly constant connection provided I don't move around.
If I use 3G (I have a 3G phone), I often get a crappy connection with lotsa packet loss, even if my phone is showing full signal strength. It might be perfect if you're sitting in the heart of New York city but most people aren't
I read a comment on Slashdot from a guy working in the Telco industry that most insiders are writing off 3G, and see 3.5G as a stop-gap for 4G. Apparently 3G was just badly designed.
But, like I said, the key thing here is cost. I don't like paying by the minute for my Internet. Business users might be different but humble individuals find it oppressive.
I want it to be free. If you ask me, FON is a genius idea and very much in keeping with the modern community-oriented Internet -- I share my connection, and you share yours with me. Beautifully simple, and the technology is both cheap and proven.