By 2017, a third of home Wi-Fi routers will power passers-by

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By 2017, a third of home Wi-Fi routers will power passers-by

Coming to your home town?

tangor

8:53 pm on Jan 31, 2016 (gmt 0)

Companies are going to be selling a lot more public Wi-Fi plans over the next few years and it's going to be home Wi-Fi users who'll be the backbone of the network, according to analysts from Juniper Research.

In a new report (registration necessary), Juniper estimates that one in three home Wi-Fi routers will be used as broadcasting signals by 2017, with firms like Comcast, BT (British Telecom), and Virgin leading the way. By 2020, it predicts that 336 million homes will be fitted with dual-use routers, dramatically increasing the reach of commercial Wi-Fi networks.

[theregister.co.uk...]

Who pays for the electricity and location to house these routers? Pretty sure there will be some unhappy campers.

toidi

1:50 pm on Feb 1, 2016 (gmt 0)

I bet the hackers are making plans too

engine

10:21 am on Mar 2, 2016 (gmt 0)

Only last week I removed a router because it offers a "public side."
I had completely forgotten about this, and it was certainly not made clear when I signed up.
I now mention it to all my friends and colleagues.

lucy24

5:58 pm on Mar 2, 2016 (gmt 0)

I slapped a password on my first wireless router after doing a walkaround with the iPad and discovering that its range was the better part of a block (=24 apartments plus a small business plus an unknown number of houses on the other side of the nearest street). Er, thanks all the same, but I do not want to avail myself of the opportunity to provide a couple dozen other people with free Internet service.