dslreports logo
 story category
Ericsson: Wi-Fi Is Becoming Irrelevant
Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ...
"Hotspots at places like Starbucks are becoming the telephone boxes of the broadband era," insists Ericsson Chief Marketing Officer Johan Bergendahl. Bergendahl is of course pushing Ericsson's 3G flavor of choice, HSPA (High Speed Packet Access). He admits to InfoWorld that the technology does still have its flaws, namely coverage (the room in which he made the proclamation lacked 3G coverage) and international roaming charges. Still, it will be hard to beat the price of the world's largest free ISP: linksys.
view:
topics flat nest 

supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL

supergirl

Member

Starbucks

Most expensive crappy coffee. Eyesores as well.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6

Premium Member

Re: Starbucks

»www.illwillpress.com/sml.html

packetscan
Premium Member
join:2004-10-19
Bridgeport, CT

packetscan to supergirl

Premium Member

to supergirl
They make a Darn good cappuccino..

Cafe Lounger to supergirl

Anon

to supergirl
said by supergirl:

Most expensive crappy coffee. Eyesores as well.
Bull.

Starbucks charges no more for a cup of coffee than my local Yum Yum donut shop. $1.50.

ReVeLaTeD
Premium Member
join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA

1 recommendation

ReVeLaTeD

Premium Member

Re: Starbucks

Exactly, this is what I've been saying all along; people harp on $tarbucks because of the prices of everything BUT a regular cup of coffee.

Their regular coffee is no more expensive than any other shop - the diff is, nobody goes to Starbucks for a regular cup of coffee - they go for their Venti Carmel Machiatto Deluxe Upside Down With Half Cream Double Sugar Expresso Style, which yes is about $5.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to supergirl

Premium Member

to supergirl
said by supergirl:

Most expensive crappy coffee. Eyesores as well.
No better than circle K's $1.69 brew.
its all about being a yuppie hangout.

FiL25
Premium Member
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD

1 recommendation

FiL25

Premium Member

Re: Starbucks

Death to Starbucks and Yuppiness!

Hahaha2u
@sbcglobal.net

Hahaha2u to dvd536

Anon

to dvd536
I was at the Angola Service Area a few days back. Coffee cost me $1.89 for an 8 oz cup at McDonald. So I think it has to do with what they can get away with.

inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

inteller

Member

oh yes, and ericsson's faster EDGE is the answer.

give me a break.

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

1 recommendation

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

"Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

That would be me. I have not paid for internet access for the past year. I set up 2 14dBi patch antennas at each end of my house and have been getting free access to my neighbors wireless networks this whole time. I even set up a load balancing server that does round robin to each AP. So im surfing at 20Mbps/2Mbps. Pics available upon request.

MrMaster
Rum Connoisseur
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI

MrMaster

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

and your neighbors are cool with this?

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

Neighbors are too dumb to know anything is wrong.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 recommendation

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

said by DaMaGeINC:

Neighbors are too dumb to know anything is wrong.
And obviously you have no working knowledge of right or wrong.

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

1 edit

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

Do I care?

ps, the way I see it, my knowledge has made my wallet a little bit fatter. So Im cool with "STEALING" internet. ok. end of story.

Jeff
Connoisseur of leisurely things
Premium Member
join:2002-12-24
GMT -5

Jeff

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

said by DaMaGeINC:

Do I care?
You should care if you're running an IT repair business off a stolen connection.


DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

No biz here.

Jeff
Connoisseur of leisurely things
Premium Member
join:2002-12-24
GMT -5

2 edits

Jeff

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

said by DaMaGeINC:

No biz here.
Oh, your profile seemed to mention somethng different. Might want to remove that, under Member Tech Services.

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

Not like anyone ever contacted me. lol. But its not like a "BUSINESS" More like online tech help and stuff. get it?

FiL25
Premium Member
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD

FiL25

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

keep doing you, DM. I do the same. Plus I don't bog down their connection. Your not breaking any law, so what these fools got to use to judge you against?

imanogre
join:2005-11-29
Smyrna, GA

imanogre to DaMaGeINC

Member

to DaMaGeINC
That's awesome logic. I might as well go take my neighbor's car tonight for a late night drive through Atlanta. They're not going to need it, they're sleeping.

And I'm sure there's no way the bank could use all that money they have in their vault. As long as I can make my wallet fatter right?

MrMaster
Rum Connoisseur
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
St Thomas, VI

MrMaster

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

said by imanogre:

That's awesome logic. I might as well go take my neighbor's car tonight for a late night drive through Atlanta. They're not going to need it, they're sleeping.

And I'm sure there's no way the bank could use all that money they have in their vault. As long as I can make my wallet fatter right?
To be fair, there is a difference between using something physical and something that is not physical. He's using a connection that is unlimited so technically he isn't hurting anyone. If you don't want people using your connection then lock it down!

I use to have my AP open but when a douchebag neighbor decides he can run p2p on it when I am trying to play a FPS. The free ride is over!

bear73
Metnav... Fly The Unfriendly Skies
Premium Member
join:2001-06-09
Derry, NH

bear73 to imanogre

Premium Member

to imanogre
A better analogy would be a peeping tom watching your big-screen TV through your open picture window...

Close teh drapes and do humanity a favor.

if DM isn't running a spam server, whatever! obviously the folks he's pulling from haven't noticed... hell, I was borrowing a neighbor's wifi for about 8 months until he noticed he forgot to lock it down. he asked me if I knew and had surfed. I told him the truth. He got mad at himself...
It's not like we are charged by the byte!

DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

Thank you. I am very respectful with the connections. And since I have been load-balancing two of them, its even less strain for them both. I could throw in a few more nic's and some more ap's and really spread the load. *evil grin* Just like a few of you said, I do it to see if I can and to learn from it, and reap the benefits.

CConverse
join:2006-01-31
Syracuse, NY

1 recommendation

CConverse to bear73

Member

to bear73
Thank you. Users are responsible for educating themselves. I would imagine most of us lock our house and car doors before leaving them unattended. This really is not so different. Every router sold from the manufacturer comes with instructions on how to secure it. And if that's not enough there's free tech support 24/7. My Linksys manual strongly recommended setting up the encryption. Probably even states in the fine print that comes with the gadget that if you don't secure it, you're responsible for what happens. If you didn't take the time to protect yourself, the only one responsible is you.
81399672 (banned)
join:2006-05-17
Los Angeles, CA

81399672 (banned) to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

said by DaMaGeINC:

Neighbors are too dumb to know anything is wrong.
And obviously you have no working knowledge of right or wrong.
Most of us don't care about right or wrong.Obviously you do, so you're more then welcome not to use free wifi
amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22

3 recommendations

amigo_boy

Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

said by 81399672:

Most of us don't care about right or wrong.
And that's why the rest of us have speed bumps in residential neighborhoods, and photo radar, and warrantless wiretaps.

Our society has reached a tipping point where enough people can't do "the right thing" without being watched that we have to live down to lower common denominators.

Mark
81399672 (banned)
join:2006-05-17
Los Angeles, CA

81399672 (banned)

Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

said by amigo_boy:

said by 81399672:

Most of us don't care about right or wrong.
And that's why the rest of us have speed bumps in residential neighborhoods, and photo radar, and warrantless wiretaps.

Our society has reached a tipping point where enough people can't do "the right thing" without being watched that we have to live down to lower common denominators.

Mark
I love speed bumps, just drive over them in suv at regular speed and nothing happenes. Photo radar are easy to win especially when they are issued on business vehicle name. So all of those are fine by me.

FiL25
Premium Member
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD

FiL25

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

Its not that we don't care. It's more so the convenience factor, and yes, its broadcast into my home, so I'm using it. They lock it down later, so what. No loss to either of us.

Your right though, your more then ok to NOT use the free wifi...

rosco35
Premium Member
join:2003-11-10
USA

rosco35

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

said by FiL25:

and yes, its broadcast into my home, so I'm using it.
that's how I feel right there.

I don't go out of my way to use anyones wifi, but if my computer can associate and get an ip from my bedroom, with no fancy tactics on my part, then its the neighbors bad for broadcasting to my home.

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536 to DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

to DaMaGeINC
said by DaMaGeINC:

Neighbors are too dumb to know anything is wrong.
Til they get a nastygram from their ISP
One of my linksys APs disappeared after seeding around 40gigs through it.

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: "Wi-Fi freeloaders would probably beg to differ..."

I hope it was something legal. You could cause a lot of problems for you neighbors. It never really crossed my mind to use somebody's connection on a regular basis. I do carry a laptop in my work van and sometimes I will connect to look up a place but that's it.

I just did a site survey with my laptop and there was a lot of connections and most of them were secured. Some were not. My neighbor across the street has an open network. I will tell him to secure it. Really nice guy.

Neighbor 1

Neighbor 2



DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

1 recommendation

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

Click for full size
antenna 2
Click for full size
rack
Click for full size
gateway server
here

•••••••••••••••••
ctggzg
Premium Member
join:2005-02-11
USA

1 recommendation

ctggzg to DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

to DaMaGeINC
The scary thing is that you sound like you're proud of yourself.

•••••••

Yowzaaah
Ours Go To Eleven
join:2000-12-14
DamnFlat, OH

1 recommendation

Yowzaaah to DaMaGeINC

Member

to DaMaGeINC
I've only managed to use my neighbors in times of TW being down (they have DSL). I envy you, seriously. Aren't you afraid one day they are going to watch Oprah, hear the evils of unprotected wi-fi and encrypt their routers?

Don't let the ninnies here give you flack, they're just as jealous as I am and are too uptight to admit it. Frankly, if the connection is open, what's the harm of sending your packets across it. Who is damaged by your neighbors acts of unintentional kindness? Certainly not the @ssr@ping cable companies who charge $57 a month for those who have the nerve to purchase "unbundled" such as I do. Phuctards. You keep on doin' what your doin' and smile a little broader with every free email you send.
gokudre
join:2004-10-19
Chicopee, MA

gokudre to DaMaGeINC

Member

to DaMaGeINC
request sent.. how do i contact you?

lamecomparisons
@verizon.net

lamecomparisons

Anon

compete with free, go ahead, i dare ya

if wireless companies would just sell high speed wireless connections and not "wireless voice" there would be an industry-wide change in the way companies competed against wifi.. but that's not happening, yet. hardware companies (for the most part) are not in a position to dictate to carriers on what terms certain technologies will be adopted or not. the iphone somehow crept into the marketplace from that hole in the wall we call the death star but don't expect for it to happen again..
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Wait till you get the bill

If the HSPA service providers use the same pricing strategy as Verizon, you might pay about $60.00 for the first 5G bytes transferred and $2,500.00 for the next 5G bytes transferred. If you are a heavy user, when you get the bill you will not need a laxative to stimulate your colon, your wireless data provider will take of that. I do not see how WiFi could be considered irrelevant.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 edit

FFH5

Premium Member

WiFi isn't dead - says Reardon of CNET

Are Wi-Fi hot spots going the way of public telephone booths?

Johan Bergendahl, chief marketing officer for wireless equipment maker Ericsson, thinks they are.

Of course, these comments should be taken with a pinch of salt. Ericsson sells wireless equipment to cell phone companies. It doesn't make Wi-Fi gear. So it shouldn't come as a shock that the company would publicly slam Wi-Fi, while promoting its own flavor of wireless broadband called HSPA (High Speed Packet Access.)

But I don't see the technology fading into the sunset just yet and going the way of the public telephone booth anytime soon.

Broadband wireless service through a carrier definitely offers wider coverage. And it's more convenient. But it's expensive. In the U.S., Verizon Wireless charges $60 a month for 5GB of downloads per month and $40 a month for a service that allows 50MB of downloads per month. By contrast, many Wi-Fi hot spots are free.

Another significant reason Wi-Fi isn't going to die anytime soon is because it's already in wide use in millions of end-user devices. And because the technology is standardized and manufactured in bulk, it's relatively cheap. This has helped it become almost a standard feature in any laptop computer sold today.
So, basically CNET charges that Ericsson said WiFi is dying because they don't sell WiFi devices.
TheMG
Premium Member
join:2007-09-04
Canada
MikroTik RB450G
Cisco DPC3008
Cisco SPA112

TheMG

Premium Member

Pfffft...

Let's see HSPA or any of that other nonsense push several mbps reliably. Plus the fact that many Wi-Fi hotspots are free.

Also, who's going to get rid of their home Wi-Fi connection in favour of a wireless plan that costs more money and is slower? Only an idiot.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

wifi is dead

Wifi died for me a long time ago. I started out leeching wifi on the go, but eventually, it became a big time waster, and more and more encrypted SSIDs. Got a EVDO cellphone with bluetooth and never looked back. Wifi is always, and will always be spotty, plus it doesn't work outside of cities or in suburban shopping centers, or in malls, or in forests. Only nomadic people (not in your home wifi) using wifi will be the ones that need the extra speed of wifi, compared to the max 1000kbit/s of a cellphone.
stufried
Premium Member
join:2003-10-13

stufried

Premium Member

Not Until You Bring Down Roaming Prices!

Sure, it is real easy to get an all you can eat 3g plan for your home country, but what happens the moment you cross an international border. International roaming prices are often US$15 per meg. Read all the articles about people who rack up $5,000 iPhone roaming bills and tell me that it is irrelevant.
stufried

stufried

Premium Member

Re: Not Until You Bring Down Roaming Prices!

My wife has a client in suburban Chicago where there is no cell phone signal in the office for three of the four providers. She has TMobile and a Hotspot at Home compatible phone. She connects via wifi nand is golden.

The other day, I was a in a hospital which has a no cell phone policy, but there is a guest wifi network. I shut off my transmitter, connected via Truphone and was golden. I had a fight with a nurse, but set her up in the discussion and won. (Q. Butall the doctors are using their phones; A. They have special phones that don't interfere; Q. Yes, they use the hospital's network; A. Exactly; Q. So does mine, see. You provide this free guest net so that people don't have to use cellular frequencies).