[SATLUG] Free WiFi Router if you'll join the system (which is also free and gets you free wifi all over!)

[Sean Carolan]

> So by hosting one of their access points off your broadband (as a Linus
> Foneros), you in turn get free wifi access from any of their other APs around
> the world. :)
>         http://maps.fon.com/

I got my fon router today - some initial impressions:

It's been a while since i've purchased a wifi router, the last one I
bought was a big Netgear thing that looks like it came from a 1960's
sci-fi movie set.  The Fon on the other hand, is a svelte little unit,
about 3"x4" with an adjustable antenna.

Setup is pretty straightforward, but for some reason the fon.com
website was just crawling when I tried to configure my account.  It
was taking literally 2-3 minutes to load each page.   It seems to be
running more smoothly now.  One thing for the security conscious - it
appears you can reset your ESSID and the router's web admin password
via the fon website.  It would not bode well if someone ever cracked
the Fon database and got access to those.

The Fon device comes pre-configured with two networks - the private
one is WPA encrypted, and you can rename it to whatever SSID you want,
and set your own passphrase.  The other network a public hotspot
called FON_$whateveryouwant.  You can do some customization to the
page that users are directed to when they first open up a web browser,
eg, a link to your site, description, photos or a video, etc.

I haven't had a chance to log in and play with the openwrt control
panel yet, will check it out when I get home from work.

For now I'm going to leave it running alongside my existing wifi
router, I would like to monitor it a bit and see what it communicates
back to the fon mothership.

Thanks

Sean