Partner Nintendo 3DS Central Social

People cutting Home Wired Internet service because of Wireless Cellular internet and Free Wi-Fi!

froggyboy604

froggyboy604

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Manager
Full GL Member
28,705
2007
762
Awards
20
Credits
10,244
Mature Board Viewing
Unlock full profile styling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9SeTa2n98s

Are you brave enough to cut off your Internet service? Scott tells you how some Internet users are getting rid of their wired Internet service and opting for free wi-fi instead. Will you become a cord cutting pioneer? Let us know in the comments!
Click to expand...
Surprising, but I wonder how many of these cancellations are from people who can no longer afford the internet instead of rebelling against the wired internet service providers by going wireless.

It is not hard to find free wired internet and wi-fi at a local library, friends and neighbors house, school, work, restaurant, and many other places, so people who spend most of the time out of their house like the mail man can very easily find free Wi-Fi, and use a Cell phone, tablet, netbook, and laptop to use the internet on their lunch breaks, or after work. A lot of work places also offer free smartphones with internet access for work related tasks like replying to e-mail, sharing files, and video chating with Facetime, and Skype.

I think a lot of smaller cell phone service providers offer unlimited internet bandwidth for cell phones, tablets, and netbooks, so there really isn't a reason to subscribe to wired internet if your cell phone plan is fully unlimited.

For basic internet users who only use the internet for web browsing, e-mail, facebook, Twitter, forums, and blogs, there are free 500MB a month plans from Netzero, and Freedompop and cheap pre-paid wireless plans from NetZero, Freedompop, Walmart, and other companies, but you need to buy your own wireless internet modem.

Internet Cafes also have pretty cheap internet were you only pay a few dollars or less an hour to use the internet on their desktop PC at the Cafe.
 
It's a comon problem across Tunisia, they even set a code to prevent the free WiFi
 
I know a lot of people just go to their local restaurant, school or library for free Wi-Fi since it is usually not password protected, or you can ask for the code after you buy something, or ask the owner and workers for one.

I think there are very big wi-fi antannaes you can use to connect your PC to a far away non-password protected Wi-Fi signals from miles away from you, so you can use free wi-fi provided for free by a far away building like a library, school, or restaurant.

The big antannaes can be one reason that people are cutting cords for wired internet service.

There are also apps and websites for finding free wi-fi around you.
 
Not surprising.

My friend is a big internet nut but does not have the kind of money to keep up a monthly internet bill.

So he usually just goes and gets his internet fix down the street at our local Dunken Donutes with thier free Wi Fi.

Its becoming a pretty common thing really, especially for those who do not live all that far away from those places that offer free Wi Fi.

I have 3 that are in walking distance of my house at the moment.
 
I live a few blocks away from a library, community center, restaurants, and other places with free Wi-Fi, and public computers with internet access.

It seems Wi-Fi is like Air Conditioning where it attract people to come in to get something for free like AC and Wi-Fi in exchange for buying something like a sandwich. Wi-Fi can also be used by costumers to post status updates to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks that they are at a certain restaurant, and you can even include the location by ticking the location icon on your post, so stores can get free advertising from status updates like "Drinking a coffee at Mc. Donalds, delicous!".

Plus, most internet tasks like e-mail, Instant messaging, and posting on forums only take a few minutes, so sitting a while longer at a coffee shop won't be a problem hogging up the table.
 
Having free public wifi is nice...
But the problem is that as more and more people start using it then you notice an even larger slowdown. So even basic stuff like just loading a new page takes a while. Plus public wifi is not very secure and it's fairly easy for others to see what you're looking at or to intercept your traffic. (Which can mean if you log into sites, they may be able to get your password.)And it's worth mentioning that public wifi isn't really suited for higher network drawing applications like online gaming. (So if you do any amount of gaming then it's probably better to have your own independent connection.)


Sure if you have unlimited data (hopefully with a HSPA or LTE connection) on your cellphone you can likely tether that to a laptop or to tablet and share internet that way. But if you don't have a data plan (or your data plan is limited) then this isn't a very good alternative. Alternatively if you live in an area with spotty cell reception, depending on your phone for internet too might only leave you with unreliable internet too.
 
A free or cheaply priced VPN connection should solve most problems related to Public Wi-Fi networks being insecured according to http://lifehacker.com/5576927/how-to-stay-safe-on-public-wi+fi-networks

A public Wi-Fi may use a newer 802.11AC gigabit router connected to a Gigabit Fiber connection with faster speed and better security like WPA2, and a better more secure router firmware like DD-WRT instead of a lot of older routers which are set to WEP which is easier to hack. Some public wi-fi requires you ask for a password from workers, so it is more secure since only paying consumers can access it. 

I sometimes experience slower speed on my home internet compared to some faster public internet connection via wired and Wi-Fi which is sometimes faster because the owner subscribes to a more expensive faster internet connection like Fiber, and uses a better dual-band 802.11 ac router which fewer people can afford.

Opera Mini, and Opera web browser has a web page compression feature called Opera Turbo/Off the Road which compresses web pages's images, block ads, and compresses HTML scripts to use less data, so sites load faster.

I read at ( http://gizmodo.com/5909822/could-you-live-without-broadband-at-home-steve-wozniak-can) that Steve Wozniak the Co-founder of Apple has no broadband, and strictly relies on mobile data from his data plans because his home is located away from broadband connections, and no company provides broadband to his town because of a monopoly. I read there are Cell phone boosters which help boost a low cell phone connection.  Also, a town which was hit by Sandy's Storm went completely wireless for the phone  ( http://gcn.com/articles/2013/05/07/nj-town-all-wireless-phone-service-sandy.aspx ), so I think DSL provider now need to use some sort of mobile data,  to deliver internet to non-cable internet users since DSL uses the telephone network of cables. 
 
Even they allow people, but sometimes some person take an advantage of unallowed connections, such as in Cyber cafe, they can sit behind or next to it and use their laptops.
 
Standalone Internet service from TV cable providers, and Telephone providers without bundles since DSL uses the telephone lines can be expensive if you don't bundle Cable TV, and phone service which the cable TV companies are also getting into. Phone companies are also becoming TV service providers.

For people who cut the cord on Cable TV, and Home phone service, subscribing to regular broadband via Cable and Telephone Lines like Cable and DSL broadband can cost $50 dollars or more a month because they don't get the discount from bundling TV service, Home Phone, and other services.

Republic Wireless in the US offers Unlimited data/internet, text, and talk for  $19.99 a month, but you need to buy your own phone for $99-249. http://republicwireless.com/what-it-costs

Most people need a cell phone, but may not need TV, or use a home phone which can be expensive.

There are also Free limiited Dataplan like Freedompop which offers 500MB of Free data a month after you buy its 4G LTE Modem, iPod Touch modem case , or Android phone according to http://www.freedompop.com/ .

NetZero also offers 200MB free a month Data when you buy a USB 4G modem, or regular 4G modem http://www.netzero.net/

It's not a lot of Data a month, but good enough for basic web browsing, E-mail, and light social networking.
 
VPNs don't always secure a connection perfectly and even if you use one they can still track your traffic. And they may still be able to pull packets (especially if they have access to the router you're going through). 

500MB? Anyone who uses the internet any amount probably uses that much bandwidth in a day.... Especially with LTE speeds. And it's not really hard, some youtube videos are upwards of 40-50 MB on their own. (Speaking personally, I've used easily 40x that in one day. I downloaded Sleeping Dogs, thanks to PS Plus, twice at like 10GB a download. )
Though even then, don't forget that a large number of us are non-US. We don't have the same packages, offers and providers that you do. (For internet, phone, tv or cellular.) Let alone the fact that large sections of other countries either don't have high speed like Fiber (or it's prohibitively expensive) or public wifi. So we might not all be able to easily rely on public wifi.


Another worrying aspect is what if people start using public wifi for illegal purposes? Like suppose some sicko is trading child porn on it. Will that cause public wifi to get shut down? (Since the owner of the wifi is responsible for everything that goes on. And by letting others use their network they take a massive risk.)

Sure you could have passwords for the wifi all you want. But having a strong password won't help you if your customers/residents/those that know it  hand the password out. So like someone comes along and asks: "Hey, I see there's wifi here, can I get the password? I just want to check my email." And then they hand it out without really thinking. And once that happens it's pretty easy for the password to get handed out even more.
 
The video I posted states most of the people who are using public wi-fi, and Cellular internet are using public Wi-Fi, and cell phone internet because of the high cost of wired broadband driving them away because it is no longer affordable for them. Most people own cell phones because almost everyone without a home phone needs a cell phone to contact people, and for putting their  cell number on a resume, doctors form, and other important forms. Prepaid phone planes can also be cheaper than home phone plans in some cases, and you get more features like apps, web browser, and texting which is not available on home phones. Most cellphones these days even cheaper ones have both Wi-Fi and have bundled limited Cellular data, and you can pay for more if you need to.

Plus,people can buy a Tablet, eReader, cell phone, and Used Netbook for $60 or less if they buy generic brands like Coby, iView, etc, or can get one for free or a few dollars from a non-profit charity, or thirft store. Public Wi-Fi also include public Wi-Fi at libraries, schools, employment offices, and community center which are run by the government, so it is unlikely the government will sue the library, school, etc for providing free Wi-Fi because of a few offenders. A lot of poor people like the homeless rely on public wi-fi/internet and limited cellular internet for using to send out resumes, looking for addresses for social services like the wellfare office address and phone number. Public computers at libraries and schools are usually always being used by people , so public Wi-Fi helps libraries, schools, and government offices save money on computers by not having to buy as many because people can use their own laptop, netbook, smartphone, or tablet to send out a resume, e-mail, and other documents to apply for jobs, wellfare, student loans, and online schooling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top