How to set up your own Wifi access point

Wifi is undoubtedly a useful technology, but for people who stray beyond the home or office, the cost of using an access point can be prohibitive.

While business users can soak up the extra cost, home users are less willing to pay over the odds. It’s no surprise, then, that many people use unsecured networks, hitching a free ride on someone else’s broadband.

But there are alternatives to expensive commercial broadband services or unauthorised piggybacking on unsecured networks. One of the fastest growing is Fon.com, with more than 85,000 users worldwide – 3,000 of whom are in the UK.

The idea is fairly simple: Fon.com users – or Foneros – set up their broadband so it can be accessed wirelessly by other Foneros. In return, they’re able to connect to any Fonero’s shared access point around the world, free of charge. Anyone else can connect to a Fon access point for a charge of 3 euros (about £2) for a 24-hour period – less than the rates charged for casual use by the main hotspot operators.

The income from these other users (Fon calls them Aliens) is used to subsidise the cost of the Fon Wifi routers that power the service. You can have a share of the income from people who use your hotspot, but then you also have to pay to use Fon hotspots around the world. In Fon’s rather bizarre lingo, those who share for free are called Linus, while those who expect cash are Bills.

Fon is keen to make its service as simple to use as possible by taking the hassle out of setting up a hotspot and dealing with random unknown users. It provides customised firmware for some Linksys and Buffalo wireless routers, which ensures all the access points work alike, allowing registered users to connect, and other users to purchase payments and register.

And if you don’t have a router already, you can buy one preconfigured for only 5 euros (about £3), plus postage and Vat. However, if you don’t register it with Fon within a certain time period, you’ll be charged an additional 45 euros (about £30) to prevent people simply joining up for the cheap hardware.

The technical side
On the technical side, it is fairly straightforward. It’s based on open-source software – Chillispot – which is the hotspot software, and custom firmware images for the routers. It’s about as close to plug-and-play as you can get.

Chillispot serves up the login page users first see when they try to browse via your hotspot with the sort of sign-in form familiar to anyone who has used public access Wifi. It then relies on a Radius server for the authentication. Fon operates a central server, which your access point queries when someone connects, verifies that they’re entitled to access, and then informs the Chillispot software.

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