tomizone

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mdl

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#9267 3-Sep-2006 19:56

Anyone used tomizone or tried it out yet ?

I am a little sceptical about loading third party firmware onto my wireless router, but I love their idea - hotspots everywhere.
Also sceptical about other security aspects, and how this will work in the land of "narrowband" and datacaps.

What do you guys think ?

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freitasm

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#45295 3-Sep-2006 20:00

Most ISPs have a clause on their ToS, that you agree with when joining the service, that prevent bandwidth/traffic sharing.

The Tomizone service seems similar to other "sharing" services, such as FON.

sbiddle

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#45296 3-Sep-2006 20:24

It's certainly an interesting concept.

There are already quite a few competing applications for public hotspots using the Linksys WRT54g however this is pretty unique in it's charging system and the fact it's free software as well.

The obvious problem in NZ is that from what I understand most ISP's prohibit reselling the service in their T&Cs - I know TelstraClear cable is the same. Anybody know any ISP's that don't make mention of this?

stevenewzealand

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#45565 6-Sep-2006 18:16

ISP's have reached a level of maturity in most countries. I can tell you that in Asia, sharing appears to be encouraged. This is what I have found so far since we have been up here.

In New Zealand, some ISP's we have spoken to (including the big guys) don't mind - its not "reselling" the bandwidth 'per se' - its recovering cost and adding security to your home broadband connection. And if ISP's have a problem with this, then they should perhaps review their customer list and stop providing service to Internet Cafe's.

On the security side, there are too many leechers out in Internet land and people need to protect themselves from these types - objectionable material might be downloaded by a rogue in this circumstance from a persons internet connection. In the Tomizone case, we can provide the Tomizone user and the authorities with data to help with any investigation if required (we are not spying on traffic - simply registering time of use and data volume use). This is especially useful when you want to prevent authorities from accusing the owner of bad downloading (there could be a long debate on this security scenario but lets not go there in this thread - enter it as a topic in our meeting room).

For LAN security with the Tomizone hotspot, it provides a solution whereby internal networks are completely seperated by the "chinese wall" within our firmware.

Thanks for your support - we are brave Kiwi's really showing this off to the world - we've had some great response in asia so far! Off to the US next week phew!

Enjoy...

Steve Simms

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#45567 6-Sep-2006 18:22

Steve, how will John Doe be able to share his connection? I mean, I have a nice router/AP, it's on a wall here at home so the entire house is covered. But the signal barely get to the street in front of my house. And I can't see people parking in front of my home just to use The Tubeless Internets.

Or perhaps my neighbours would like this?

Just interested to know where this initiative will really be taking off. Main urban centres, CBD, etc?

And how is this different from FON?

stevenewzealand

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#45593 7-Sep-2006 03:16

Mauricio - John Doe can use our on-line tutorials to figure out the simple way to enhance coverage. Its in the TOOLBOX section when you sign into your account (you need to simply register to get access to this resource).

In some situations, it could be particularly useful to share with neighbours on a friends list (another feature that you can use with our service if you have a Tomizone in operation). It means that you can come to your own arrangement with your pals (either free or donation!). As for ANYONE else, they pay.

The Tomizone initiative is very young - we celebrated day 8 in the "public eye" on Wednesday and we've been very pleased with the direct feedback so far. In Singapore and Thailand (where I am right now / have been), the Tomizone concept has been popular with a few vertical markets including high density residential, ISV's, Companies that want to provide guest access to the net etc. Its to early to rank popularity of a vertical market yet.

And finally, to answer your Q on the comparison to FON : We are similar in two ways but different in many others. The similarities lie with the $ we are charging for access and the similar simple firmware at the router level (based on a customised version of openWRT). We then go off on our own tangent with the billing platform smarts, mapping, brand, experience etc. We are a commercial business with commercial outcomes enabling the everyday person to use us to "have a crack" at securing their Wi-Fi connection, make a little bit of money or make Wi-Fi a passive business opportunity for them.