As mentionned on the 20th of October on this site, the City of Geneva and FON have officially announced a joint project to provide WiFi access to the city’s residents and visitors.

A website FON-Genève has been created and residents willing to share their Internet access are invited to complete the registration form to reserve their Fonera (the FON wireless access point) available soon for collection at the Geneva City Hall.

Geneva FON wireless access point : Live Map 

Let's hope that Internet users will play the game and Geneva will become a real connected city and communes of the canton will soon follow.  

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In Geneva, Switzerland, there are several projects more or less on tracks with a unique goal…providing Wireless Internet Access city-wide:

• Pour une capitale des télécommunications à la pointe du sans-fil . Under discussion at the City Council. Answer expected during Summer 07.

• Swisswifi is awaiting a political green light to go ahead with a commercial version providing access to up to 90% of the canton's population by installing 3500 antennas on public transports & traffic lights infrastructures.
• L'Esprit de Genève an association created on July 1, 2004 has for objective to give a new image and redynamise the relationship between Geneva and its citizens, which has already mapped Geneva's Wifi Free Access points has launched a project named GEspot that develops a free communication infrastructure in order to offer to Geneva's citizens and visitors free wireless access to the Internet.

  Unlike FON (a semi-open internet community), access to GESpots' wireless access points is totally free. Owners of GESpot access points can turn them on/off as they wish (keeping access point ON 24/24h is a mandatory requirement with FON).On their side, GEspot sells ready to connect Wifi Terminals (Linksys WRT54GL at 105.- USD) and ensures the automatic referencing of all the terminals in free access. Visitors using the WiFi access will find this facility as soon as they are connected to www.gespot.ch

If none of these projects work, the historical telecom operator, Swisscom, still proposes Internet access through its WLAN Hotspots (check prices first !) and of course its GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA network (check prices first). 

As I'm not anymore a resident, but a Geneva's visitor, I hope to see such projects to become reality soon.   

 

Sources : Largeur.com &  Dubuc's blog

 

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As advertising on Fon web pages says it :

• At home you're a "Wi-Fi King"
• Away you become a "Wi-Fi beggar" 
  (or sometime even a Wi-Fi thief)

  so, why not to

• Share some Wi-Fi at home
• and get free WiFi access wherever you find a FON Wi-Fi access point (+360'000 members worldwide)

 

 That's the concept of Fon Movimiento but you can find more details on Fon pages or Wikipedia.

Hardware requirement :  

Benefits :

• Cheap wireless AP (with an "easy to get" voucher or invitation) : 20€ with shipping included.
• You're a Linus and get free access to others FON Wi-Fi access points
• You're a Bill and get 50% of the fees, currently $3.00, charged to Aliens (non FON members) for a day pass to connect through their route.

Risks :

• Your ISP may not like it, even if on their side they sell unsecured access point. So, it's up to you.. ask your ISP if you can share your connection.. or don't !   

Installation :

• Sign On Fon.com and order your Fonera
• Once you have it, connect it to your Internet router
• From your computer connect to the open FON_AP wireless network
• Launch your browser, you're automatically transfered to fon.com pages.
• Log On, change settings of your Fonera (password, SSID, WPA Key, etc..)
• Restart the Fonera or wait 24 hours
• Connect to your newly created wireless private network (by default named "my place").
• That's it… the whole process took about 10 minutes. 

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