Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Deploying WLAN for office visitors and guests
Hong Kong is an entreprenual society, as such our economy thrives on small and medium enterprises. A lot of these organisations have minimal IT support if any and yet are huge consumers of the latest IT products and keep up with trends.
Wireless LAN (WLAN) or as its more popular name WiFi is increasing in usage in our city particularly as people start using handheld devices such as PDA's and the new generations of mobile phones with WiFi support.
A business doesn't work in isolation and one has visitors, vendors, customers and guests all coming into an office location. Whilst the office staff is generally networked very well (typically with a wired network), visitors are generally left without any access or sometimes offered access via the office WLAN.
Offering access via the office WLAN or even via a wired connection opens up the risk of having an external entity access to an office's internal network. I'll leave it to your imagination as to what could possibly go wrong here (virus infection, internal file shares visible etc).
Whilst it is always possible to deny any form of Internet access to a visitor, it is possible via a La Fonera not only to provide access but at the same time be secure.
You may rightfully ask
Won't it require the visitor/guest" to be a fonero so that he could connect to our office's FON Access Point ?
The answer is
- Use the Friends and Family mechanism available by logging in on the FON User Zone.
The Friends and Family mechanism in the FON User Zone enables a fonero to setup local users on his FON Access Point with an associated password. This username and password is specific to that FON Access Point.
Thus with this mechanism, one could allow access to the Internet to visitors/guests in an office environment and still have them separate from the office internal network. Hmm, isn't this like having your cake and eating it too ?
Posted by Yusuf Goolamabbas on Business, Foneros, Gadgets, Technology
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Saturday, February 17, 2007
新年快樂！
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Thursday, February 15, 2007
Sony Ericsson partners with FON - La Fonera for P990i owners
Hong Kong‧14th Feb 2007 — Sony Ericsson today released the long awaited flagship smartphone—P990i.
Now, customer can get a LA FONERA Wi-Fi rounter when purchasing Sony Ericsson P990i in specific retail shops for free. The router meets the hi-speed IEEE 802.11g standard that function well both as the main or secondary wireless router for home or office. Using P990i connected to FON, user may freely roam FON Wi-Fi network all over the world, this allows owners of P990i not just to access the Internet for free on their handsets but also to reduce the cost of voice calls.
Continue reading "Sony Ericsson partners with FON - La Fonera for P990i owners"
Posted by FON Team on
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Sony Ericsson 與 FON 合作 - La Fonera 送給 P990i 用家
香港‧2006年2月8日— Sony Ericsson 今日正式推出萬眾期待的P990i智能式手機。
現凡於指定商店購買Sony Ericsson P990i，即可獲贈FON之LA FONERA Wi-Fi路由器乙個。LA FONERA Wi-Fi路由器支援高速IEEE-802.11b/g標準，可以作為家居或辦公室內的主要或次要無線網絡路由器，而P990i只要連上FON，即可免費漫遊連接全球FON Wi-Fi網絡，讓您不但可以免費使用P990i瀏覽互聯網，更可減省通話費用。
Continue reading "Sony Ericsson 與 FON 合作 - La Fonera 送給 P990i 用家"
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Thursday, February 8, 2007
FON成立一週年 WiFi熱點突破10萬個
FON網絡註冊用戶突破25萬
覆蓋140多個國家
香港，2月8日/新華美通/ -- 在這個星期， FON慶祝成立一週年。為慶祝週年生日，並預祝來年成功，FON全體工作人員、各界好友、合作夥伴與傳媒朋友齊聚馬德裏，舉辦了一場西班牙派對。FON一年前在西班牙正式成立，它透過分享WiFi服務的網絡，給WiFi業界帶來了重大變革。FON香港於2006年11月成立，至今本地FON熱點的數量已經增長近3000個。
創立僅一年，FON網絡已發展至全球140多個國家，擁有超過25萬名Fonero (FON用戶)，成為世界上最大的WiFi社群。目前，全球共有超過10萬個FON熱點 （FONspots）； Fonero可以在熱點免費享用WiFi服務。如今，FON正在以每天增加1,000多個熱點的速度在全球快速發展。
FON在2006年初獲得互聯網巨頭Google、 Skype、 Sequoia Capital和Index Ventures 等公司投資2170萬美元。同年，FON又與業界部分主要競爭對手達成了重要合作協議。因此，FON能成就以上紀錄並非偶然。
FON與主要互聯網服務供應商（ISP），如歐洲的Neuf Cegetel、Labs2、 Elitel 、Interoute以及亞洲的Excite 和Seednet，建立了合作夥伴關係。此外，FON與小型網絡產品製造商Skype 和Zing合作，為Skype語音電話和支援WiFi的Sansa產品提供WiFi連結FON熱點。最近，FON還與Skype、Paypal、Onet.pl和Bebo 一起開展推廣活動，向他們的用戶推介FON。
2007年伊始，FON連報佳音。在美國，FON與GIGAOM合作推廣，在兩天內派發了8,000個La Fonera路由器。在歐洲，FON正與Clearchannel 和 iBand推動FON運動，讓WiFi全面覆蓋挪威奧斯陸。
展望來年，FON會積極發展產品，為Fonero提供更多服務。FON將推出以Web 2.0為基礎的La Fonera 2.0路由器。新產品可使用戶的電腦擺脫上傳和下載的緩慢進度，還可作為改善用戶Web 2.0用法的連結介面。和舊版的La Fonera一樣，La Fonera 2.0將繼續為Foneros提供安全、可靠的WiFi服務。
為了繼續提高市場滲透率，FON將致力與更多零售商及網上商戶（e-tailer）達成協議，以及與更多的大型互聯網服務供應商建立合作夥伴關係。
FON簡介
FON正在建立全球最大的Wi-Fi社群。FON於2006年在西班牙馬德裏成立，希望藉著匯集 Foneros組成的WiFi共用網絡，推動全球無線聯網的發展。FON設計的WiFi路由器La Fonera讓Foneros與FON社群分享家居網絡連結。作為慷慨分享的回報，Fonero可以在全球找到其他Foneros的地方免費享用WiFi服務。FON的投資者包括Google, Skype, Index Ventures和Sequoia Capital。欲知詳情，請瀏覽http://hk.fon.com 和http://www.fon.com 。
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FON Community passes 250,000 registered users, presence in over 140 countries
HONG KONG, February 8, 2007: this week FON is celebrating its very first anniversary. Launched officially one year ago in Spain, FON has revolutionized the WiFi industry with its Community of members who share WiFi. FON Hong Kong was launched three months ago, in November 2006, and the local Community has grown to just under 3,000 access points.
In its first year, the global FON Community grew to more than 250,000 registered Foneros in more than 140 countries, making it the largest WiFi community in the world. Now the world has over 100,000 FON access points, called FONspots, where Foneros can get free WiFi. FON’s growth is further accelerating with over 1,000 FONspots added daily across the globe.
These figures are no coincidence. First, FON received the support of Internet giants Google, Skype, Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures through a $21.7 million investment at the beginning of 2006. Then, throughout the year, FON reached important agreements with some of the major players in the industry.
FON entered into partnerships with major ISPs such as Neuf Cegetel, Labs2, Elitel and Interoute in Europe, and Excite and Seednet in Asia. Among gadget manufacturers, FON teamed up with Skype and Zing to provide WiFi access to FONspots on Skype Phones and Sansa WiFi enabled gadgets. Recently, FON has also launched campaigns with Skype, Paypal, Onet.pl, and Bebo to promote FON amongst their users.
FON also started 2007 with more good news. In the US, FON recently distributed 8,000 La Fonera routers in two days, thanks to a promotion with GIGAOM. In Europe, FON is launching an initiative with Clearchannel and iBand to deliver WiFi coverage throughout Oslo, Norway.
In its second year, FON will concentrate on growing and offering more services and products to its Community members. One of the ways FON will improve its Community services is by launching its new router, the La Fonera 2.0, based on Web 2.0 services. The La Fonera 2.0 frees a user’s computer from the slow process of uploading and downloading and also acts as an interface to improve the user’s Web 2.0 experience. La Fonera 2.0, like the original La Fonera, continues to offer Foneros safe and secure WiFi on the road.
FON will continue increasing its market penetration by signing agreements with retailers and e-tailers, and reaching new partnerships with major ISPs.
Looking forward to a successful second year and celebrating the first anniversary of launching FON, the entire FON team, its friends, partners, and the Media, gathered together in Madrid for a real Spanish fiesta.
About FON
FON is building the world's largest Wi-Fi community. Founded in 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON's mission is to stimulate growth of WiFi Internet access through its WiFi sharing Community of "Foneros". FON’s La Fonera WiFi routers have been specifically designed to enable Foneros to share their home access points with the FON Community. In return for sharing, Foneros gain free WiFi access everywhere in the world they find another Fonero. FON's investors include Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. For more information, visit FON at http://hk.fon.com and http://www.fon.com.
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