Wee-Fi: Detroit Update, Home Network-Fi, Piggyback-Fi, PHL Free-Fi

The Detroit Free Press rounds up free and fee Wi-Fi efforts around it: The city and its suburban and exurban surroundings could use more broadband, but Wi-Fi has arrived only slowly as an option. It hasn’t disappeared outright, and it’s made inroads in some places. The project to unwire Oakland County is on hold as even though the county and cities secured pole rights for a firm to build service, that firm is still searching for capital. A county-wide network might be a better model, but the density is always the issue: mounting locations and assets coupled with homes passed and their median income.

GigaOm’s Michael Wolf rounds up what other forms of networks are needed in a home beyond Wi-Fi: Ethernet, HomePlug, MoCA, HomePNA, Wireless HD, personal networks (Bluetooth), and automation controls. (My home is a very stupid home, thank you very much.)

He who steals my Wi-Fi steals hash: Mike Rogoway at the (Portland) Oregonian poses the question as to whether using a neighbor’s unsecured Wi-Fi is borrowing, stealing, or nothing at all. I pipe in noting that more people are securing their networks. In my current office, where I’ve been three years, I spotted over a dozen networks when I arrived, most unsecured. Today, all the networks are secured (only some are small business networks), and many of the names have changed. The reasons? Better security wizards, widespread use of WPA, improved Wi-Fi network setup in Windows Vista and XP SP2, start of use of WPS, and general fear of security issues. Rogoway also runs through what the options for connectivity in Portland are as MetroFi is about to hit its network shutdown date.

Philadelphia’s mixed free airport Wi-Fi: I somehow missed this story months ago, but PHL (Philadelphia’s airport) is offering free Wi-Fi on the weekends to every one, and free Wi-Fi on the weekdays to college students. Students go to an information counter, show their valid student ID, and get an access code. This is a very neat idea. The airport is otherwise $8 for 24 hours or $40 per month, although it’s part of much cheaper roaming plans from Boingo Wireless and iPass.

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