Josef Janošec

Whether you’ve recently activated a Fonera and want to make sure your Fon Spot is showing, or you’re looking for WiFi coverage ahead of your next trip, we’ve got your covered with our improved maps!

Lots of improvements were made, but the main ones include:

• See only active hotspots, with hotspot status updated every hour
• Find out if a hotspot belongs to a residence or business
• Share a map with a friend by copying and pasting a map’s URL

If you want to see all of these improvements at work, just visit maps.fon.com.

As always, we’re always looking to improve, so we want to hear from you! Please let us know in the comments if there are any more features you’d like to see.

Over the past decade, WiFi has become a ubiquitous part of our lives (especially for those of us at Fon). So it helps to understand why and how it has become such a necessary part of our day to day existence.

Probably the first and most important advantage of WiFi is that it allows for a deployment of wireless networks in places where this could not have been done before, such as outdoor areas or places where cables cannot be run.

Another important advantage is that any standard WiFi device will work on any WiFi network in the world. This compatible nature has led to huge growth in the WiFi market and, as a result, WiFi devices are now everywhere and can be easily found in most locations. According to a recent report from Machina Research, by 2020 the amount of connected devices will reach 24 billion. This means that WiFi will become an increasingly important part of ensuring connectivity at home and outdoors.

This boom in the WiFi ecosystem has also driven down the cost of WiFi as a whole. So much so that using WiFi is cheaper than using most mobile data plans for both consumers and businesses. For example, Foneros who travel overseas can connect free to Fon WiFi hotspots while Aliens can buy a day pass, connect and still pay less than they would if they incurred roaming charges on their phones. This is most aptly illustrated by Fon’s partnership with BT, which recently won an award for best WiFi service.

We here at Fon believe WiFi is the future. Why is WiFi important to you?

Great news! BT, our partner in the UK, has been awarded Best WiFi at the uSwitch Broadband Awards for  BT Fon and BT Openzone.

This is what the award organizers said about the service:

“With BT Openzone and BT Fon offering millions of people quick and easy wireless access at home and out and about, our judging panel saw BT as being streets ahead when it came to Wi-Fi service.”

This is a great way to start the year! Surely, this is only the first of many more awards to come.

Can’t get enough of Fon? Then we’ve got good news for you! Adding to our blog, Twitter and Facebook presence, Fon is now also on Google+!

Follow us on Google+ to keep up to date not only with the latest Fon developments, but also with technology news in general.

Your opinion matters!

We want to keep improving. So feel free to give us feedback on the page, and let us know what topics you would like us to cover more of in the future.

Recently, there has been speculation regarding the security of Fon passwords. Here at Fon, we take security very seriously and we keep all of our customers’ information securely stored at all times.

Firstly, Fon does not hold the password of all of the users in the database. In fact, many of our users who are part of the Fon community through one of our telco partners, have their passwords stored by our partners (their ISP or mobile operator). When this is the case, Fon has no access to the passwords at all, as they are not stored in Fon’s database.

Additionally, the passwords that Fon does manage are divided into numerous systems and platforms that do not share the same database or structure.

Rest assured that Fon does manage its passwords in a secure way. In keeping with industry best practice, we are aware that storing hashes or digests of passwords is considered better than encrypting them. Therefore, Fon has identified this possible improvement some time ago, and has already applied this change to some of its user types. Other users are being migrated gradually. This is by no means a security issue, as regardless of how the information is kept, it is kept safe.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your password safety, please feel free to contact our customer care team for further information about Fon’s password safety. To further increase your internet safety, we recommend that you always have a different password for each website or online service that you subscribe to.

Attention Azores!

ZON has now launched its ZON@FON service in the Azores archipelago, allowing ZON@FON as well as Fon customers to enjoy 9,000 hotspots on the islands of S. Miguel, Terceira and Faial.

ZON@FON and Fon customers can freely surf the web at any one of the network’s spots in the Azores. If you’re not yet a ZON@FON or Fon customer, you can purchase access passes directly from the hotspots at highly competitive prices.

This network is a ZON exclusive in Portugal and is available to all ZON Internet service customers who have a compatible router (ZON HUB). All that customers have to do is register at zonfon.pt. Fon customers from anywhere in the world are also free to use the network.

Good news, Portugal! This week, ZON launched its 2012 holiday campaign for ZON@FON, Portugal’s largest free WiFi network. Customers who register for the first time at zonfon.pt between now and the 8th of January 2012 will be entered into one of ZON@FON’s weekly draws to win an iPad.

Draws will take place on the 20th and 27th of December 2011, and on 3 and 10 January 2012.

Be sure to register now for your chance to win, and good luck!

Free shipping from 6 December 2011 until January 6th 2012!* 

Looking for a holiday gift that is the perfect complement to every smartphone or WiFi gadget? Fon is here to help! Buy any Fonera between now and January 6th and the shipping is completely free!

With the Fonera, you’ll not only be giving your loved ones a great WiFi experience at home, but also when they travel. Fon is the world’s largest WiFi network with nearly 5 million Fon hotspots across the globe, and accessing those hotspots is free as long as you have a Fonera connected to broadband at home.  And because the Fon WiFi network keeps on growing, it’s really the gift that keeps on giving!

Visit our product page now to choose the perfect holiday gift. Really want to wow them? Throw in our WiFi enhancing Fontenna into your cart too!

*Terms and conditions apply. Free shipping available in the US, Canada and most of Europe. It is not available in the Canary Islands, Switzerland or Norway.

Last week, Mobile Asia Congress,
one of Asia’s top mobile events, took place.

Fon had a booth at the event, which  had a great response from the conference’s visitors. They were not only interested in our huge WiFi community, but also in our Fonera devices, which help make it all possible.

Needless to say, our booth was always very busy. What’s more, to help people familiarize themselves with Fon, we distributed one-day  passes and Fonera devices to a few lucky attendees.

Spreading the Fon idea is always great fun, and it’s safe to say that our team in Japan had a great time at the event!

Following the recent
announcement about our first partnership in Latin America, we’ve got even more great news!

Together with Belgacom, we’re blanketing Belgium with our free WiFi network! Before the end of the year, Belgacom customers and those in the Fon community all over the world will be able to connect to 100,000 Belgacom Fon hotspots (SSID: FON_BELGACOM) all over Belgium.

But this is not all, as the network will continue growing. In fact, there are already half a million hotspots predicted before the end of 2012! This will establish Belgacom Fon as the largest WiFi network in Belgium.

So if you’re in Belgium or planning to visit the country, be sure to bring your WiFi devices out with you because wherever you are in the country, we’ve got you covered!

See the press release for the full announcement.

So you finally got your Fonera, and are
ready to be part of the world’s largest WiFi community.
Now you’re ready to discover our top tips for getting the
strongest possible WiFi signal with your Fonera.

This is how you get a strong WiFi signal with your Fonera:

1. If you have a Fonera Simpl, Fonera 1.0 or Fonera+ and you don’t have a Fontenna, it could be a good idea to get one – it helps amplify your WiFi signal so more people can find and connect to your hotspot.
2. Place your Fonera or Fontenna in an elevated place, this way, there are far less obstacles that could block the signal.
3. Don’t put your Fonera or Fontenna inside a closet or any other enclosed space, as it diminishes signal strength.
4. Metallic objects can also provide signal interference, so it’s best to keep your Fonera and Fontenna away from them.
5. Keep devices that use a frequency of 2.4 GHz (such as microwave ovens or cordless phones) away from your Fonera so that they don’t interfere with its signal.
6. The Fontenna is waterproof, so if you want to be able to share your WiFi with more people, why not try putting it outside?

What are your tips for broadcasting a strong WiFi signal from your Fonera? Share them in the comments below!

Today, we’re happy to announce that we’re
one step closer to covering the entire world with our WiFi network after partnering with Oi, Brazil´s top telco.

What’s more, the roll-out of the WiFi network has already begun with 200 hotspots in the beautiful Ipanema and Leblon neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. Oi and Fon customers in that region will be able to find hotspots (named OI_WIFI_FON) in areas such as cafés, malls and gyms.

If you’re in Rio, and are not yet an Oi or Fon customer, don’t worry – you will be able to try out the network free for 30 minutes, and then will be given the option to buy hour (R$ 2.90), day (R$ 5.90), or 5-day (R$ 11.90) passes.

Keep posted for future partnership news – we plan on taking over the world!

Every year, thousands of new internet
enabled devices are launched.

From laptops, tablets and smartphones all the way to eBook readers, there are a number of gadgets out there that make it increasingly easy for us to connect to the internet from wherever we are. Chances are that you have at least one of those devices, and that one of its main uses is to connect you to the internet.

I´m also willing to bet that on many occasions, you´ve tried to connect to the internet while on-the-go. So I´m sure that WiFi is no stranger to you. But have you ever stopped to wonder about what it stands for and how it actually works?

WiFi stands for Wireless Fidelity. According to the WiFi Alliance, WiFi is a radio wave technology that allows people to connect their internet-enabled devices to each other, without the expense of cumbersome cables.

Here at Fon, we live and breathe WiFi, so who better to tell you about the technology than one of our very own techies, Mike Puchol? He explains:
“We have all heard about WiFi by now – 700 million of us already use it! We know that WiFi connects us to other things and other people, and we assume it is available on all the devices we buy, just like we expect any new car to have air conditioning, so we don’t even ask the dealer about it.

But what is under WiFi’s hood?

The cornerstone of WiFi’s success has been a solid standard, 802.11b, which forced manufacturers to adopt the technology in a way that would guarantee interoperability between devices. We have seen technologies fail before because of weak standards, and manufacturer implementations that differed so much as to make it impossible to use devices from different brands for the same purpose.

WiFi works on the 2.4GHz wireless band, which allows radio devices to operate without a license – otherwise, you would need to pay a yearly fee to have a WiFi router! The drawback of this band is that it is shared with many other devices, from baby monitors to cordless phones and microwave ovens, all of which can create an interference sometimes resulting in slow connection speeds.

To solve this problem a new standard, 802.11a, was created. This allows WiFi to operate in the much less crowded 5GHz band

There are challenges ahead for WiFi, one being interference. As more devices are added, the 2.4GHz band will get more crowded. Solutions for this are the 5GHz band, as well as intelligent power management and the new Hotspot 2.0 standard.”

Hotspot 2.0 will bring intelligence to WiFi signals, as they will broadcast their capabilities to devices before connection – no more having to guess where to connect, you will simply be online. Access to public hotspots will also be simplified and safer, thanks to encryption and automatic configuration of user credentials – no more forms to fill in or passwords to remember.

Fon is working hard to integrate and implement these new technologies, which will help take WiFi to new heights.”

Do you have any other questions about WiFi? Let us know and we will ask one of our experts!