Newsletter SEPTEMBER07

FON NEWSBLOTTER

FON’s WiFi Survivors' Guide to Summer Love

There’s that fantastic love affair that happens during a vacation, lasts only a few weeks, and then each person goes their own separate way. Way back in the early 90s, you’d run up expensive phone bills or invest in stamps and envelops to write long love letters. Can’t you just imagine Borja, our project manager, running each afternoon to the mailbox to see if his love was requited? Now Borja uses WiFi to keep many long distance relationships alive simultaneously all year long.

Other relationships suffer from separation during the summer. You should have seen Jacobo, one of our graphic designers, when he learned he’d be working all summer while his girlfriend would be away on vacation. Yes, you’re right, he got her a La Fonera and the good SMC WiFi phone faster than you can say “802.11”. It was a small investment for his peace of mind.

Can’t disconnect? Florian from FON Germany used the FON Maps to plan his hiking trip and find the most remote trails possible with the “there was no WiFi available” excuse in mind. Even our CEO, Martin, bombarded us all summer with emails while he cruised around the world to spread the Movimiento. Rumor has it that it was our CFO, Antonio, who orchestrated the theft of Martin’s new iPhone to strip him of WiFi connectivity and free us all from the extra work.

How did you survive? Or didn’t you? Let us know. We’d love to share some of your summer tales!

Would Angelina or Brad share? Show us and win a trip to Spain!

SHARING IS CARING VIDEO CONTEST

Now that we’ve got your attention, here are the details. We want you to make a video of your favorite celebrity sharing (or not sharing!) something. The contents of the video should mimic the celebrity of your choice. For example, would Paris Hilton share one of her dozen’s of doggies? Would Britney Spears share one of her wigs that hide her bald head? Would the Dalai Lama share one of his robes? Would Tony Blair share a spot of tea? Show how they would (or wouldn’t) share!

The cleverer the better, we want to laugh! Each video should be no longer than 90 seconds and must consist of original content. More guidelines and contest rules here.

HOW TO SUBMIT

To submit your video, join the Joselito’s YouTube group, by clicking here: http://youtube.com/group/wouldtheyshare and then upload your video to the group. Do not forget to send the link to all your friends so they can vote for you! The top three videos with the most views and highest rankings will win the grand prize. So the more people you can rally to vote for your video, the better!

WINNER SELECTION

The top three winners will be selected on October 31, 2007, so you’d better get rolling now. FON will then repost the top three winners and have the FON/YouTube community vote on one of the three finalists. The winner's name will be published in the December 2007 issue of FON Newsletter and on FON Web site at www.fon.com. Entrants must supply their name, country, contact details and any other info they would like to include about their video and filming experience to FON at newsletter@fon.com.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that we will only be counting views from videos submitted to Joselito’s YouTube group, so when posting it elsewhere make sure it’s linked back to the original video you submitted via the group.

Milking your WiFi for milk bones?

THAT’S NOT A JET PACK, IT’S A LA FONERA AND OUR DOG IS SHARING WIFI WHILE SHE WAGS HER LITTLE TAIL

We’re really proud of Gina, our favourite and very first Canine Bill. Sure she’s making a little dinero for milk bones and other treats, but she also just loves strolling around the office with her FON T-shirt and La Fonera and while she shares her WiFi. R&D has done a great job here too, but unfortunately, the new canine technology is still not compatible with all breeds and tail sizes.

So if you see Gina or any other four-legged WiFi friend, go ahead and scratch her back. She’ll give you some WiFi in return.

FONTASTIC FON SPOTS

Leelanau Coffee has been roasting and serving coffee for fourteen years. With indoor and outdoor seating, it is a gathering place for locals and tourists alike who love Leelanau County, Glen Lake, Lake Michigan, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

“I learned about FON in the earliest days because I am fascinated by the open source and free WiFi movements. There it was: the FON Movimiento! I signed up for home, and this winter brought the FON experience to our cafe and roastery, the Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company.

We had wireless for three years, but for security, it was only on when we are open and required authentication every 30 minutes. Now with the La Fonera, I am able to provide secure wireless access all day, every day. When I review the logins, I can see that Foneros are connecting all day and night. Customers have always been grateful for free wireless access, and they thank us frequently. With the addition of the FON Router, that gratitude has increased, and business continues to grow. I also like that I can access our server with my laptop over the secured, private side of the La Fonera.

We are in a summer resort area, so it is very busy right now. These days, 10-20 people are online at any one time. It's a fact of life: you may be on vacation, but you still have to check in at the office, or update the grandparents with new photos from the beach. By offering free WiFi with FON, our customers are connected and caffeinated!”

Mike

Stop in and see them next time your in the neighbourhood! If you can't get there you can also order their coffee online. With over 90 varieties including USDA Certified Organic there is something for everyone!

NOTES FROM THE MOVIMIENTO

Top Fonero of the Month

“I am 30 years old and live in Málaga, Spain with my wife and 6 month old son. I consider myself to be from the US, as I am a US citizen, but not from any particular place. Over my life I have lived in Japan 12 years, Germany 6 years, various places in the US 10 years and now Spain. I met my Spanish wife while living in Boston, Massachusetts and she convinced me to move to Málaga. I've been a Linux user about 11 years. My profession is Software and Electronics Engineering.

Sometimes I feel guilty for being a FON Bill, since all of my computers run Linux, but since I have a few good locations for WiFi, I decided to try and make some money out of it. My best FON Spot is in a very touristy area in southern Spain. In June and July, it made more than the previous 9 months put together. At one point I thought about starting my own WISP, but decided having FON do the billing and provide the user interface makes it much easier and is lower maintenance.

My suggestions for other Bills looking to attract more users:

A good location with line of sight to where people may be. A clear line of sight makes a big difference in signal strength

A wireless antenna may help depending on your location.

Try and pick a Wireless channel that is not too crowded. Since 802.11b/g spreads over various channels also try to pick a channel or has too many other less than 3 channels away. One problem in urban areas now is all the channels have someone on them, and interfering.”

TIPS & TRICKS

Router Status Widget

Whenever you want to make sure your La Fonera is online and sharing WiFi, you can simply go to your User Zone to verify that everything is kosher. That way you won’t get those persistent FON Team emails telling you that your router has been turned off.

Another great way to monitor your La Fonera’s status is to use this cool widget called FON Guardian, created by our friends at FrancoFON. It allows you to embed your router’s activity on your Google or Netvibes dashboards. Here’s how it works! Thanks FrancoFON!

We’d love to see and feature other Fonero-made widgets! Send them to us at newsletter@fon.com