FON vs. Freifunk - the p2p revolution goes network hardware
I was recently ranting about the google empire and showed off a p2p websearch engine that is since then gaining some steam - yAcY. Right on the heels come the p2pification of the internet in general with an announcemt by fon - a spanish startup - that they secured venture capital by evil google and skype to make an p2p network happen with existing hotspots in peoples home. You sign up with fon get their $25 router or flash your linksys router beauty with a new firmware and then share your internet connection with the outside world - for free to anyone who is also offering a fon based hotspot and for pay for everyone else wanting to use your network connection. The catch is that willing ISPs get part of the cake (income) if they participate with the fon service. A very sound concept with a good bussiness stragedy behind - it makes people money if they offer the fon service and encourages fon use among other users - the backing by google and skype will help with mass adoption.
Yet in the light of this there is a shortage of reporting about other hotspot endeavors. The most prominent in Germany is freifunk.net - let us create mesh networks that are free throughout the country is the motto - taking the ISP out of the equation completely by creating a world wide mesh network - for free to use by anyone and everyone interconnected to the roots. So no financial backing - only volunteer service - a overdesigned website without any "maps that show me where freifunk is available" no press department that spreads the message to the masses will ultimately lead to failure of this and every other free wireless mesh networks - as sad as it is - bussiness world you only survive if you play by the rules - Yet in Berlin there is a recognizable freifunk scene and in some prominent spaces mostly in the east you can already get free netz with freifunk for a while - so I found the service lacking speed and reliability every time I tried it. Generally this is the project to support - but I do give FON the upperhand on worlddomination of hotspots if they survive the technical difficulties of the startup phase.