Would you sign up for free WiFi?
 

Free advertiser-supported broadband via WiFi will be available in my neighborhood within two months. It's already active in other parts of the town.

They blanket entire towns with WiFi service. There are some cool spots where one would need a bridge to get better signal indoors. I drove over to the active area and did a bandwidth test and got about 500 Kbps - 700 Kbps.

They insert a banner ad at the top of the browser window.

Would you sign up for free ad-supported WiFi?

Depends on the size of the ad and how invasive the software is.

Currently, there is no software to download and they just put up the regular sized top-banner ads 168 x 60. It seems like this company realizes that the consumer is not going to be loyal and will not tolerate too much bullshit.

Would the WiFi be encrypted or just open for anyone to see?

My understand is that this would be a user choice. But the ISP would "see" all and with Google's text analysis capabilities, this would be a Big Brother situation. I am thinking that an ISP without Google's spy capabilites would be safer.

Is there a website where I can put in my credit card number and get as little as a day, month, subscription to the service, without ads and without restrictions?

Is it a service that has a crappy business model and will fail and take my access along with it?

Currently, they don't even ask for a CC #. The subscription is for just a session. It's so totally easy right now. One can oay $19.99 to opt out of the ads.

But, this company is hiring me to implement the Big Brother software that I am so concerned about.

So, The match is excellent; I have extensive experience in an area that they lack yet is critical to their business. The software engineers that I would work with are good guys and we had great discussions at the white board. I meet with top management tomorrow.

The most important thing to me is enjoying the job on a day-to-day basis. Part of that is not being micromanaged, but given responsibility for an entire area. The guy I would work for is more than happy to delegate responsiblity for this particular area to me.

Anyway, I think it is better if I implement the ad targetting software with my greater concern for user privacy.


Thru a twisty and winding path, I seemed to have found a good place for me to work. I'll be able to better evaluate the situation as tomorrow's meetings unfold.

Do they need a Philadelphia development office? I swear I could locate 10 developers in a month. They wouldn't all be qualified in the technologies needed but they'd all be smart enough to get to speed in weeks.

This new company lost the Philly contract to the evil combo of Earthlink/Google. I so distrust Google that is virually indescribable. This new company won Portland, OR and the second largest city in IL, Aurora.
They won Foster City, CA and downtown San Jose.

I love a company that wins out over Google. the new Evil Empire. "Do no evil", Google has already violoted their so-called principal many times over.

Okay...for the essentially clueless, like me...*how* do they keep an ad on your screen? Is it totally via a portal, no direct IP connection, or what?

@Els: When you connect to any ISP, your tranmissions go through their equipment. With this free WiFi service, part of their equipment is a server that simply pastes an extra banner ad HTML before the publisher's HTML you are viewing.

@UT: They want to keep all software development in one office. They only have 2 software engineers and I will be the 3rd.

Sounds like a good way to break some pages. Also sounds like a job for AdBlock.

Son of NetZero...

I'd hate to find a comercial service's WiFi signal at my house. I might have to demonstrate that I'm licenced for much more power in that band than they are...especially since they're not licenced for that band at all. Might involve some highly directional antennas.

@MaggieL: before I answer your objections/questions, let me say that they are astute/accurate observations.

Yes, it does sound that way. But, they explained to me how they are doing this and I am satified they will not likely break many web pages. I am a long time expert in both proxy servers and third-party ad insertion.

Yes, I tested AdBlock on them and it works easily. They said that they will watch the situation and deal with it only when it becomes more prevalent. Many ad companies I've spoken with have the same idea: it's still a very geeky thing to download an extension to FireFox. My thought is that all publishers and advertisers are eventually going to have to obfuscate URLs.

Yea, I asked the CEO about that today. I agree with him that NetZero was very unfocused and spent too much money (eg, SuperBowl Ads). This company doesn't even want to build a brand name to the consumer. They are seriously "lean and mean".

Interference is definitely a problem. But, I am confused. I didn't think *anyone* could be licensed for that band. Do they grant licenses for that band at all?

Anyway, sooner or later there will be a commercial WiFi signal blanketing your home. It is now inevitable. Just hope that it is not the GEvil Empire.

Big buck companies such as Verizon, Comcast, et al got a law passed in PA to make that illegal. Only Philadelphia is permitted because Philly had already started a city wide service. And since PA resident remained quiet (and vote religiously for their incumbants), then no such service is permitted in PA.

Well good luck RS, it sounds like a really fun venture, which is more than half the battle IMO!