Hotspot
From FON Wiki Beta
A Hotspot is a venue that offers WiFi access. The public can use a laptop, WiFi phone, or other suitable WiFi ready device to access the Internet. Hotspots are often found at restaurants, train stations, airports, libraries, hotels, hospitals, coffee shops, bookstores, department stores, supermarkets and other public places. Many universities and schools have wireless networks in their campus.
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History
Wi-Fi hotspots were first proposed by Brett Stewart at the NetWorld+Interop conference in The Moscone Center in San Francisco in August 1993. Stewart did not use the term 'hotspot' but referred to public accessible wireless LANs. Stewart went on to found the companies PLANCOM in 1994 (for Public LAN Communications). There are two kinds of HotSpots: paid and free. Both paid and free hotspots continue to grow. Wireless networks that cover entire cities, such as municipal broadband have mushroomed. MuniWireless reports that over 300 metropolitan projects have been started.
Commercial WiFi hotspots
A commercial hotspot may feature:
- A captive portal that users are redirected to for authentication and payment
- A payment option using credit card, PayPal, ClickandBuy, or other payment service
- A walled garden feature that allows free access to certain sites
Major airports and business hotels are more likely to charge for service.
Free WiFi hotspots
Free hotspots operate in two ways:
- Using an open public network is the easiest way to create a free HotSpot. All that is needed is a WiFi router. However, the disadvantage is that access to the router cannot be controlled.
- Closed public networks use a HotSpot Management System to control the HotSpot. This software runs on the router itself or uses an external computer for it. With the help of this software, operators can authorize only specific users to be able to access the internet, and they often associate the free access to a menu or to a purchase limit.
FON Spots
A FON Spot is a WiFi Hotspot created by a person who has installed a La Fonera router. To get more information about FON Spots check the FON Spot page