 Wireless in the EnterpriseThis newsletter is sponsored by Meru NetworksNetwork World's Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 10/22/07Nokia users get streamlined Wi-Fi access optionBy Joanie WexlerNokia has teamed with Boingo Wireless, a large service aggregator of Wi-Fi hot spots owned and operated by other companies, to simplify access and lower public Wi-Fi access fees for smart phone and Internet tablet users. Users who download Boingo Mobile software code onto select Nokia devices, including the N95, N80 and other N-, S-, and E-Series devices, can pay a mere $7.95 per month (compared to $7.95 per day) for Wi-Fi access anywhere across the globe. The code can be downloaded at either the Nokia or Boingo Web site. Users who are already Boingo subscribers currently pay a flat fee of $22 per month for access throughout North America and $39 per month for international access. They could still piggyback on that subscription with any smart phone, acknowledges Christian Gunning, a Boingo spokesman. “But they would have to navigate the walled garden of their mobile network operator” to figure out how to get online, he explains.
This often involves hunting and pecking to select the appropriate service set identifier (SSID), or Wi-Fi network name, from what can be a fairly long list of available networks in a public location, he says, which can be difficult and confusing. By contrast, devices with the Boingo code loaded on them automatically identify Boingo hot spots and automatically authenticate users with their Boingo account. The rub, of course, is that if you continue to carry both a laptop and a smart phone and want to make access from both as simple as possible, you’ll still need to retain your laptop subscription for $22 or $39 per month, plus an extra $7.95 flat-fee subscription for your Nokia device. However, if you are dumping your laptop in favor of a Nokia smart phone or tablet, you can reduce your monthly Wi-Fi subscription fee from $22 or $39 to about 8 bucks.
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| Contact the author: Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com. This newsletter is sponsored by Meru NetworksARCHIVEArchive of the Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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