Starbucks in the UK Offer Free Wifi to Loyal Customers

Starbucks has followed the lead of Pret-a-Manger in offering customers free Wifi in their stores. The Wi-Fi will be provided by BT Openzone and will be in 650 branches in the UK. In order to connect customers will need to sign up for a Starbucks reward card. Reports so far suggest that this will allow them unlimited acess.

Those with Wifi enabled laptops and mobile phones will be able to benefit from the service whilst they sip over-roasted coffee.

New Peugeot To Include In-Car Internet

We all know that the internet is moving away from the computer and into our everyday lives. 3G enabled mobile devices mean that we need never be offline (unless we are unfortunate enough to wander into a 'notspot'.

Peugeot have decided that their new 5008 needs an in-car Wifi router so that multiple devices can connect to the internet during those long tedious car journeys. No specific technical details have been released yet but it looks like the device will be an inbuilt router which will connect to a mobile broadband 3G network via a USB dongle.



It remains to be seen how useful an in-car router will be considering that most internet devices may soon have inbuilt mobile connections. If two people wish to connect and you have a pay as you go mobile broadband contract I guess it would be suitable.

Mobile Phones: the Future of the Internet.

Mobile internet is growing fast with the release of more Android handsets (including the new HTC Hero) and the new iPhone leading the way. The bad old days of WAP connections and web pages incompatible with mobile browsing are on the way out. Mobile phones with full internet browsing capabilities are starting to emerge and mobile browsing looks to be the future.

Reportedly half of the world's population has a mobile phone with developing countries being the fastest growing markets. Mobile phone technology continues to improve and in the future those who cannot afford a fixed line connection will be able to connect via their mobile phone. As internet compatible handsets become more affordable and data charges are reduced the market continues to grow.

Improvements to the 3G infrastructure are needed in order for coverage to become more widespread but in larger cities a good signal is easy to come by. The availability of free wifi connections in public areas and coffee shops means that users can switch between wireless and 3G connections in order to get the most from their mobile device.

It seems that the idea of using a physical phone line to connect to the internet is fast becoming outdated. Good riddance to it.

How To Lock Your Wireless

A recent survey has shown that a large number of broadband users in the UK have left themselves open to piggybacking. If you don't know what that means then you may well be one of them, here is everything you need to know about Wireless security.

When someone uses your unlocked wireless connection to access the internet it is called piggybacking. This can be a bad thing for you for several reasons.

• Your connection may be slowed down. Sharing your bandwidth with others can be frustrating and slow.


• You may end up paying extra. If you have a monthly limit on your downloads someone using your wireless may cause you to exceed this. Remember some 'unlimited' broadband packages have fair usage limits.


• If the person piggybacking is downloading illegal content you could be liable for prosecution.

If you use wireless broadband via your telephone line you need to know how to lock your wifi router. Here is how it is typically done. If this doesn't work for your set up try visiting your manufacturers website.

1. 1) Using your internet browser log on to your router's set-up page. This may be located at http://192.168.1.1if not it will be a similar number which should be in your instruction manual. (If you don't have this it can usually be downloaded from the manufacture's website).


2. 2) You may be asked for a log-in and password. This will be in the instruction manual and will normally be along the lines of 'admin' and 'password' unless you have already changed it. Next look for a section called 'security setting' or 'Wi-Fi Protected Access' or another similar term. Enter a password making sure it isn't anything obvious. You can test passwords with a password checker.


3. 3) Save the password and you're done!