新款Wi－Fi路由器推广公共热点

    既然“分享经济”能在汽车租赁和度假公寓上大行其道，那为什么不能用于Wi－Fi呢？

    位于西班牙首都马德里的FON公司在不断增长的协同消费市场嗅到了商机。它推出了一款能将家庭Wi－Fi变为公共热点的路由器，仅售59美元。用户能将自己的Wi－Fi网络开放给其他FON会员，作为回报，他们能免费使用别人的FON热点。FON创始人兼首席执行官丁•法萨夫思奇说：“如此一来，人们就能免费畅享全球无线网络。”

    共享Wi－Fi听起来颇为新奇，但FON实际上自2006年起就开始推行这个计划。这家公司在美国以外市场已经小有成就（FON宣称，在全球范围内，它的路由器热点数已突破1,200万。），但在美国市场，FON此前的第一次尝试收效甚微，如今已是它二度出手。

    法萨夫思奇说：“我们第一次推出产品的时候还是笔记本时代，人们对FON的共享Wi－Fi基本没有需求。如今可是智能手机和平板电脑的时代了。大家几乎人手一部Wi-Fi设备，对网络的需求与日俱增。”

    美国投资者很早就看好FON【它早在2006年就从Index Ventures、红杉资本（Sequoia Capital）等知名风投手中拿到了2200万美元］。FON将用户称为“Foneros”，不过那时的电信运营商们可不喜欢这家古怪的公司。那个年代iPhone还没出现，运营商对Wi－Fi如临大敌，认为它威胁到了自己的蜂窝网络。时移世易，如今的运营商迫切需要Wi－Fi分担不堪重负的通信网络。他们会提醒用户尽量使用Wi－Fi网络。BT和德国电信（Deutsche Telekom）等全球性运营商都投资了FON。在美国，FON最近和美国电话电报公司（AT&T）签署了一项协议——用户只需缴纳一笔费用，就能在国外旅行时免费使用FON的无线网。

    和其它共享服务一样，FON的价值直接取决于它共享社区的规模。虽然这家公司在全球有1200万个热点，但大都分布在城市，在广大的郊区，Wi－Fi共享几乎没有用武之地。

    不过FON十分幸运，它收获了一款杀手级的产品——最新发布的增强型Fonera路由器。FON用户的好友们如今无需密码，只需Facebook证书即可登录网络。简单点说，如果亲朋好友造访你家，只要他们在你的Facebook好友名单上，就只需Facebook证书即可登录你家的Wi－Fi网络。（对于经常有访客，或者Wi-Fi密码冗长难记、让别人苦不堪言的家伙，他们一定会感谢这项功能）。FON表示该技术在安全和隐私上没有问题，新款路由器会将主人的数据和访客数据放在不同频段收发。法萨夫思奇称：“Wi－Fi技术一个显而易见的使用障碍就是密码。”

    FON表示，新款路由器专为美国市场打造，将在亚马逊网站（Amazon.com）和FON官方网站销售。这款以识别Facebook好友为卖点的路由器能否在美国培养出大量钟爱Wi－Fi分享的Foneros？我们拭目以待。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航  

    The "sharing economy" seems to be working for cars and vacation rentals, so why not Wi-Fi?

    FON, a Madrid-based company, is trying to cash in on the growing collaborative consumption trend by offering a new, $59 router that turns home Wi-Fi networks into community hotspots. Users open up their network to other FON members, and in turn are able to use any other FON Wi-Fi hotspot free of charge. "It gives you the ability to roam the world for free," says Martin Varsavsky, CEO and founder of FON.

    Shared Wi-Fi may sound like a novel idea, but FON's actually been around since 2006. While it's had some success abroad (the company says its routers power a total 12 million hotspots globally), this is its second attempt to make a splash in the U.S. market. The first one didn't work out so well.

    "When we started, it was a world of laptops, and frankly there wasn't enough demand to drive FON," admits Varsavsky. "Now it's a world of smartphones and tablets. There's much more demand for Wi-Fi now, and everyone has a Wi-Fi device in their pocket."

    American investors embraced FON early on (in 2006 it raised $22 million from Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and other notable firms). But mobile operators weren't so quick to fall in love with the quirky company, which refers to its users as "Foneros." Back then, in the pre-iPhone era, carriers saw Wi-Fi as a threat to their cellular networks. Fast-forward to today, and they're trying to offload mobile network traffic by notifying users when they're in the vicinity of a Wi-Fi hotspot, among other tactics. Global operators like BT (BT) and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY) have invested in FON. In the U.S., the company recently partnered with AT&T (T) -- customers who pay a premium are now able to access FON's network of overseas hotspots while traveling abroad.

    But like other sharing services, FON's value is determined by the size of the community it spawns. And despite the 12 million global hotspots it boasts, the company's product doesn't make much sense outside of urban areas, where proximity to other shared networks could appeal to users.

    Lucky for FON, it's got a nice new trick up its sleeve -- the latest, enhanced Fonera router lets users' friends sign in with their Facebook (FB) credentials, no other password required. In other words, if a family member or friend that's in your online social network is visiting your home, they can log onto your Wi-Fi network using their own Facebook credentials. (Anyone who has had houseguests and ever blanked on their long and unmemorable Wi-Fi password will likely appreciate this feature). In order to ensure security and privacy, FON says its new router separates a user's traffic from their friends' by utilizing different Wi-Fi signals. "One of the simplest obstacles to Wi-Fi has been passwords," explains Varsavsky.

    According to FON, the new router has been tailored for the U.S. market, and will be available on Amazon.com and FON's website. Whether its Facebook friends-recognizing feature is enough to spur critical mass -- and a community of U.S.-based, Wi-Fi loving Foneros -- this time around remains to be seen.