Free Downtown Dayton Internet service.

[Derek Broughton]

Steven Vollom wrote:

> Anyway my laptop broke a week after I purchased it; it was used so
> there was no recourse.  

Warranties?

> It never occurred to me to hook my PC to it.  I
> think
> that the service is probably not a part of the need.  I think that it was
> not figured when the City started the promotion and therefore has caused
> them to
> lose a lot of downtown service business.  Anyway, unless you have to have
> some code connection to a wireless service to make your laptop modem to
> connect, it makes sense that you could use it free without having service
> in the area you are located.

I'm still not really sure what you're saying, but I _think_ what your 
provider is suggesting is that you need to pay them to provide facilities 
like mail and web hosting, but you don't really need that.  If your system 
can access the free downtown wifi, and browse the web, then you can use 
Google or Yahoo or no doubt any number of other services to provide you with 
those features.
> 
> When a person with a laptop goes on a business trip, is he charged
> connection fees when out of his home area?  

Typically you're charged connection fees (or not) by the people actually 
providing the wifi signal.  If they charge (and most do) it's usually by 
using a "Hotspot" system, which in various ways meters your usage and bills 
you.

> Or is he able to connect to any available
> signal where he is currently located, eliminating the ISP from collecting
> a fee?  An interesting thought.

You can connect to any signal you can find that is "open" - if your city 
provides "Free" wifi, then you can connect to it.  Typically, people with 
laptops just scan for the first available wifi signal (see "wardriving"), 
which could be construed as "Theft of service" if there isn't a specific 
indication that the service is supposed to be open - in practice, most 
people believe that a theft charge would fail if the owner of the wifi had 
not made at least a minimal attempt to prevent access, but as far as I know 
that hasn't been tested in a North American court.
> 
> Thanks for the input.  Enjoy the day.
> 
> Steven