BT FON/Openzone?

[Technical Ben]

As a lot of people are talking about alternatives. Has anyone considered this?
There are two main disadvantages to BT FON/Openzone I can think of. One is reliability and coverage. If they do not have a close router/access point to your home, you may not get a signal, or a poor intermittent one. Second, I'm not sure how secure it is, as it is running over BT home customers connections. This could be a problem if your a business or doing online banking.

However, it is a wifi connection you can use for backups. It's country wide. Prices start at £3 an hour, and are something like £10 for a 24 hours.

[Rik]

Interesting thought, Ben. Being me, I'd just head to a Little Chef and have something to eat.

[Technical Ben]

Id do that, but I'd need to ask Mcdonalds where I can plug in my tower unit and monitor. It's bad enough lugging it upstairs and try to get a wifi signal in a "good" signal area.

[kinmel]

BT Fon/Openzone on BT routers provide up to 10% of the routers bandwidth, up to a 1/2meg download connection which is shared between any users connected to the router.

Not only are you eating someone else's bandwidth, you are also eating into their download allowance.

It is disgraceful that BT issue these routers to unsuspecting customers with the service turned on by default.

[MisterW]

It is disgraceful that BT issue these routers to unsuspecting customers with the service turned on by default.

Yes I've noticed one has recently 'popped up' near to me at home. It's a purely residential area and I'd be fairly sure that the person concerned doesn't realise they're acting as an OpenZone hotspot.
Unless, of course, they've just bought a v6 2700 on ebay.

[pctech]

I thought BT discounted the bandwidth used by the FON/Openzone function, provided of course you are with BT.

[Technical Ben]

(I have no actual details) But I thought it was "opt in" not "opt out". That does not mean everyone who ticked the box knows what it has done to their connection. I also thought it had no effect on the owners bandwidth usage, only that of the users. However, yes, it will eat up 10% of your line. But it's a small price for unlimited wifi minuets in return (if you need/use them that is).

[klipp]

I bought one-day pass a few months ago before going on holiday, just to test it out and see what it's like.  The speed is pretty dire, 0.5mb is your lot.  Then you have the issue of it being wireless LAN, and we all know how unreliable wLAN connections can be even when the router and computer are in the same building!!  So unsuprisingly my connection was dropping quite frequently.  Another point of interest is it doesn't seem to support iphone/itouch/ipad.  You put your username and password in but it just returns to the login screen time and again.  There's even a BTOZ app which seems not to work so I don't know maybe I was noobing it up.

Anyway I would use BTOZ in the most dire of emergencies but I certainly wouldn't rely on it for anything more than that.  During the recent downtime from IDNet I thought about buying a day's worth of BTOZ but in the end I decided it wasn't worth it.  The price is too high for the speed and stability you will get.

[Tacitus]

I recently bought a new (unopened) 2700 V6 and OpenZone is on by default.  You can switch it off, but apparently it sometimes takes a couple of days.

[Gary]

I bought one-day pass a few months ago before going on holiday, just to test it out and see what it's like.  The speed is pretty dire, 0.5mb is your lot.  Then you have the issue of it being wireless LAN, and we all know how unreliable wLAN connections can be even when the router and computer are in the same building!!  So unsuprisingly my connection was dropping quite frequently.  Another point of interest is it doesn't seem to support iphone/itouch/ipad.  You put your username and password in but it just returns to the login screen time and again.  There's even a BTOZ app which seems not to work so I don't know maybe I was noobing it up.

Anyway I would use BTOZ in the most dire of emergencies but I certainly wouldn't rely on it for anything more than that.  During the recent downtime from IDNet I thought about buying a day's worth of BTOZ but in the end I decided it wasn't worth it.  The price is too high for the speed and stability you will get.

I use openzone with my iPhone Klipp without issue but I am wary tbh, we have quite a few BT FON Hotspots around here now as well as one BT Openzone, I get unlimited WiFi with Openzone so thats ok, but as said I don't trust open networks that much. I use WiFi in the house though, both on 2.4 and the 5Ghz spectrum and its rock solid at supposedly 300Mbps, guess it depends on your router and your walls, saying that ours are brick but I have the router set to as near the centre of the property as I can so coverage is good, even out in the garden. 

[cavillas]

Not only are you eating someone else's bandwidth, you are also eating into their download allowance.

If any one who is a non BT user uses Fon or Openzone then it has no effect on the BT users useage whos router is being used for access.  The only time a BT user uses up their bandwidth is when they connect to Fon etc with their BT username and this is then taken from their bandwidth useage.  Others using the service have no impact on BT users download or upload limits.

[Rik]

Thanks, Alf. 

[Gary]

Just don't check your email on one, Rik. 

[Rik]

Email wouldn't be a problem, but banking...

[cavillas]

Rik, just give me all your banking details and I will check them up for you anytime you want.

[Gary]

Email wouldn't be a problem, but banking...

I saw a program that showed peoples email accounts being taken over on wifi hotspots, and they did not even know, tbh these things are getting to be more like wifi hacking stations in some places in the states and probably in the UK

[Rik]

I've always got another account to move to, well, several really.

[Technical Ben]

"man in the middle".
It could be done with postage TBH. You would just have to be willing to stump up on the cost of new envelopes/stamps. But the difference is, if someone was to intercept your mail, it's more forensically catchable, and obvious (a guy waiting at your mailbox ) than a wifi "man in the middle" attack.

[Rik]

Ah, but it's not instant Ben - we can't possibly wait for snail mail these days.

[Gary]

Ah, but it's not instant Ben - we can't possibly wait for snail mail these days.

Our Mails goes to the same address 5 miles away even though obviously it has a different post code  gotta love the snail mail

[Rik]

We just get everyone else's - our postie knows that we'll deliver.

[kinmel]

If any one who is a non BT user uses Fon or Openzone then it has no effect on the BT users useage whos router is being used for access.  The only time a BT user uses up their bandwidth is when they connect to Fon etc with their BT username and this is then taken from their bandwidth useage.  Others using the service have no impact on BT users download or upload limits.

Not so, if a line will support a 5Mb download speed and someone is using 1/2meg for BTFon or BTOZ then you only get the 4.5 bandwidth that is left

[pctech]

Alf meant the transfer metering.

[cavillas]

Thanks Pctech,  I did indeed mean amount  or quantity of the users useage and not the bandwidth itself.

[pctech]

No prob, I thought so.