Two questions related to BT, if I may please.

[iBozz]

Two bites of the cherry here, so forgive me if it transgresses any rules.

1) I am a member of the FON network (see my post here) but not through the UK partners BT. When out and about I notice BT with FON free access points, but also BT OpenReach, BT Hub (or somesuch, I can't remember the exact names) but I cannot log on to those. From this I infer, in my congenital ignorance, that not all of BT is part of the worldwide FON network. I also heard, but from a not necessarily reliable source, that BT are to "merge" their various wifi offerings. My question is why cannot I access all of BT points via the FON partnership and, if the "merger" process is true, shall I be able to access them all in the near(?) future?

2) A widespread free wifi service is The Cloud which is to be found in larger businesses such as Wetherspoon and Caffe Nero outlets. I've looked on their website and there seems to be no mention of costs so no doubt those are negotiable or based on a sliding scale. Would they be the best solution for a small, independent one-man business such as a cafe, coffee shop, bookshop or other small retailer, or are there better and perhaps less expensive providers of such services? The shop I have in mind, where I know the not to IT savvy owner, has BT as their phone provider but does not have the FON outlet, nor any firewalled public access point. They could just buy the FON router, of course, but that wouldn't open up the access point to "the whole world", only to BT FON and direct FON customers.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[MHP]

1. The wifi service your are referring to is BT Openzone. This is a public pay as you go wifi. You connect and then you choose the length of time you want to use it for and pay via your browser. BT broadband/infinity/mobile customers get to use this service for free as part of their contract. The FON system is a voluntary bandwidth sharing scheme off of private wifi.

2. I would have thought that installing an open network wifi router into a small business and and limiting the range of the service (unscrewing the antenna) would be the simplest option. I'm sure there's software out there that's designed to cater for setting up a small commercial wifi zone.

[evilsatan]

You could always use a ddwrt router as a hotspot and adjust the broadcast power so that it didn't overlap into surrounding areas and have a board with the password written on it in the premises. You could change the password monthly. I have seen bars in London and Manchester do this.

[iBozz]

Thanks for that, I'll pass on the wifi information but, as neither they nor I are too techie I may come back with a supplementary later!

[EvilBoB]

http://elinux.org/RPI-Wireless-Hotspot

Might be worth looking at.