WLAN Event: MyZones launches managed Wi-Fi broadband service

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 22 May 2003 at 16:20

The Wi-Fi startup company MyZones has announced two services for providing managed wireless access to broadband. The official launch was at the Wireless LAN Event at Olympia.

The idea is that with a simple user interface and the installation of client software on your machines, you are ready to login to the Net-based MyZones system. The approach is designed to simplify wireless networking at home, manage the sharing of it with neighbours, and even to use the same interface when connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots. All with one account on one bill.

Is Wi-Fi really ready for consumers? asked the MyZones CEO, Clive Mayhew-Begg, referring to network management and security issues. He believes there is a place for a managed Wi-Fi Broadband service, and dubbed the new initiative the 'fourth generation' of Internet services.

The sharing of wireless broadband may be a neighbourly thing to do, but there are problems. Specifically, the fact that most ISP user agreements expressly forbid the sharing of broadband access. When quizzed on this point, the MyZones CEO simply said that this is what people are already doing.

Indeed, he went further and emphasised that with access sharing - you can easily authorise new users for your system along with the MAC address of devices to be recognised - you can formalise the sharing of broadband costs. What would be a monthly bill of £30 could be halved to £15 with your neighbour. And if they don't pay on time, they can always be excluded from your service.

For those who already have broadband access, the My Wi-Fi service is available for £9.99 a month. For those who wish to take the plunge into broadband, and do it on a wireless access basis, the My Wi-Fi Broadband service costs £29.99 per month and includes the BT broadband 512 home monthly service. In both cases, the initial setup costs involves a £200 router.

You can find more info on the MyZones Web site.