Free FON router
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22 Dec 2006
To increase their user base, FON has tried a number of things, including selling them for $5 and giving a bunch away on the streets of San Francisco. Now they’re giving existing FON customers the ability to invite their friends into the network. Invited friends get a free account. I’ve been running a FON router for a few months and have three invitations for free La Fonera routers.
La Fonera is slightly larger than a deck of playing cards and has a single antenna. Installing it is simple. Plug in power and connect the single ethernet port to your existing home network or broadband modem. You’ll find two different wireless networks, a private net and the open public net. The setup will ask a few configuration questions and you’re then online.
My Fonera router interferes with the 2.4 Ghz cordless phone on my desk. I hear a constant quiet clicking sound any time La Fonera is turned on. Two other wireless routers sitting in the same place on the desk do not cause this interference. A question to FON about this problem has gone unanswered for well over a week.
Fon might be a good way for you to add wifi to a location that doesn’t already have one. I’ve added wifi points at several family members houses so I can have access when I’m there. Installing a La Fonera router would have been a cheaper and easier way to do this. The cordless phone interference is a concern however.