Great idea but, if I remember correctly, surely the police were prosecuting people for doing precisely this same thing earlier this year?

Clive Burghard, LANCING, ENGLAND

I've been a member of FON for a while now and I assure you there are no security risks. The FON Access Point tunnels your data back to FON and then out to the Internet. As a broadband user you are unaware that the access point is there. The FON access point is separate to your existing wifi and is effectivelyt Open. However as soon as you try to access the service your browser takes you to www.fon.com where you have to sign in as a FON user and your usage of the service is fully tracked.

It's great you share your broadband so that when you are out and about you can share another's FON WIFI Bandwidth for free (once you have paid for your access point) It's a great idea you scratch my back I scratch yours.

An so WIFI becomes ubiquitous and FREE

Great result all round check it out at www.fon.com the more the merrier

David Autumns, Littlehampton, West Sussex

Great idea but, if I remember correctly, surely the police were prosecuting people for doing precisely this same thing earlier this year?

Clive Burghard, LANCING, ENGLAND

Great idea ..They can count me in.

Alan Brown, Glasgow,

One thing FON has not answered in all the time given is exactly the question of your IP number on the firing line if you get an illegal activity on your connection. Yes, your data is secure but not your IP number if police comes to investigate child porn being accessed from your connection. FON has been VERY, VERY quite when this question is asked.

Dimon, London,

This must be a prime candidate for an Ig Noble prise

Brian, Chesham,

In other developed countries, they actually have high enough broadband speeds that could allow sharing to be viable. The protectionist and profit focused internet service providers in the UK and their lack of long-term vision will probably mean that many people in the UK would be unwilling to share their connection, especially if it results in a loss of speed for them. It is perhaps ironic that BT has been the main culprit in all of this, as it is the gatekeeper to phone exchanges and our homes.

Tom, Watford,

Opening your wifi router to public access is like saying "Please, come along and infect my network with viruses and trojan horses. I'll then use my bank online and you'll be able to see everything I type including my passwords. I had too much money anyway." The internal network COULD be separated from the wifi and the whole thing properly protected, but most home users don't even know their router has an admin password !

Mick Jennings, Barnsley,

Free internet access from anywhere via a reliable nternet conection which can be set up i such a way as to differentiate between the owner of the connection and the user (something which can be relatively easy to do), and people are complaining about it?

IanG, Glagow, UK

This sounds like a brilliant idea, and while many people appear to have reservations, I think a scheme like this would be a great success. As for enabling people to commit illegal acts of fraud over the net without being traced, people can easily do this currently. Just go in any internet cafe and sit quietly in the corner.

I would assume the majority of people using this scheme would likely be people connecting to the internet briefly to check email or get travel directions, For this reason maybe only letting "guests" have a very limited bandwidth to deter them from using the owners connection to download illegal music and videos would be a good idea.

Neil, Horsham, UK

After reading this, I'm in. Broadband/Internet has changed everything. I meet many people every day who can't afford access. They're deprived of job opportunities and cheaper shopping. And UK Wi-Fi zone pricing is extortionate.

G Consentt, Wakefield, UK

Great Idea.... I would love to join the scheme

KH, Swindon, Wiltshire

The number of ignorant comments on here show the level of competence of the average user.
Main point - you have to subscribe to this service.
So while there is a possibility a criminal may use your connection, there will be a record of who, where, and when such a connection was made.
Secondly, regarding security of wifi connections. If you use SSL then the connection is encrypted anyway, so wep doesn't figure at all.
Thirdly, I have been a BT customer since well before the inception of broadband, and my connection has been lost once in all that time (and that was about 4 years ago) for about 30 minutes.

I have already set up a free wireless hotspot using my connection, which doesn't rely on BT or FON. Users can access my connection for 30 minutes after which they must reconnect. Works fine, and I have never been hacked. But then I don't use windows to run the system.
Have a look at http://www.lessnetworks.com/static/download.html

alan, exeter,

So I guess when someone sharing your connection downloads mp3's .. you wont get prosecuted for ~$9k per song..
Or you now wont get prosecuted for sitting outside peoples houses in your car using wireless..
It will be interesting to see how the differences are potrayed, and made clear to everyday users.

John Smith, London, UK

It is only greedy operators who want this idea to fail, many companies especially in motorway service areas use wi-fi as a cash cow .
In Calgary last year I was able to use numerous free access points via wi-fi, I had two sceen fulls to choose from. In teh UK it is charge , charge, charge.
AS for 'Security' issues, they arise whether you are charged or not.
Good luck to BT with this one.

Barry PURKIS, Havant, England

It is most irresponsible for BT to promote this scheme. Internet users have learnt in recent times that both running an unsecured wireless access point and taking wireless Internet access without the owner’s explicit permission are both unwise and are activities which could result in criminal prosecution.

Any improper/illegal cyber activities which originate from your Internet connection, be it from your own PC or a from passer-by connecting to your wireless network are attributed to you, the subscriber. The authorities will not allow this level accountability to be eroded by such initiatives as those described in this article. Beware!

L McKay, Newcastle,

I would be willing to share my broadband but my Broadband is ""up to"" 10 mb and i am only getting 3mb, with other people on my network aswel would slow it down even more.

If BT finished all its upgrades on its network and i had faster internet then maybe i would sign up.

What about people with capped inernet maybe they share without knowing it will use up all there bandwith. BT should re think the idea and offer costumers something in return.

Lewis Hall, Blackpool,

It is about time that the government sorted out the Wifi situation. It is far too expensive and inconvenient to connect in city centres or Airports.

Des Barlow, Derby , UK

wetherspoons have had wi-fi in most(all?)pubs, for the price of a drink,which gives you 30 minutes of broadband,for about six months now

TERRY SLATER, harlow, essex

These type of reactions (above) are to be expected from people without the real facts or an understanding in the technology involved, wep is not BT's default encryption for a start.

Regardless of your personal feelings towards BT, it is obvious that these questions will have been asked, thought about and indeed resolved.

I agree that no security is perfect, however it is possible to identify the different connections and therefore identify who as responsible for any unlawful use.

Allowing communications without wires is a good thing and with the right technologies it can be safe, I think this is a great way forward.

It is also good to see that we still have faith in our fellow human being !

Darren, Ipswich, Suffolk

Given that the default security in BT wireless is the out-dated WEP I don't trust it to run wireless myself, let alone for any passer-by to 'join in'. Add on to this, the slow speeds which BT broadband give me this is a non-entity. If you sign up to this it is the equivalent of giving people your bank card and pin number, and telling them to help themselves. Another reason for me to not renew my contract with BT when it expires.

Chris, Devon, UK

What about someone wishing to connect to the internet to commit acts of fraud and other illegalities? Surely this is a brilliant development for them, as no longer will they have to go about cracking networks.

No way! They can simply take there pick of the many open networks to use! Good idea BT!

Mahmoud Sharif, London, England

This is a joke, BT have never been able to supply me with a Broadband internet service that works.After weeks of fighting them I finally changed supplier and had a huge bill to pay out for cancelling the contract early. BT should be spending more time bringing their prehistoric phonelines into the 21st century.BT and WIFI? dont make me laugh

Phil , stoke-on-trent , uk