my Notspots?

Research commissioned by the BBC has found that many people in the UK live in what has been termed, "broadband notspots". The poor folk in these blighted areas are often only capable of receiving broadband at speeds of below 2mb.

You might expect that these notspots are in rural areas but the research shows it actually affects homes all over the country, many in towns and cities.

Check the BBC's map of broadband notspots

Workers Home Tech Habits Revealed

A survey of over 300 workers in Canary Wharf has found that over a quarter of them work from bed using their laptop or smart phone.

Of those that do opt to take their laptops to the bedroom, over half of them spend between two and six hours a week tapping away from under the covers.

Perhaps most shocking is that almost a fifth of respondants admitted to using an unsecured wifi network at home.

The survey was carried out by tech security company, Credant.

Dire Consequences of Using Someone Else's Wifi

Just read a disturbing story in the local Kent Messenger about a man from Deal who used an an open wireless network to access the internet. Whilst accessing the "non-public" wifi access point, the police stopped him and asked him what he was doing.

His honest reply saw him taken down to the station and spend a night in the cells. A duty solicitor advised him he had committed a crime the next morning, and the 29 year old man accepted a police caution.

He thought that was the end of it but unfortunately when he went to apply for a job, they did a check on him and found he had a caution under the Computer Misuse Act and he didn't get the job.

No information is provided in the story - sorry, can't find a link but will update this if I can find one - as to whether the owner of the wireless access point actually complained about their internet access being used.

Personally I find this very troubling. Some people leave access points open because they are happy to share their access. It's impossible to know if you see an open access point whether the owner is relaxed about sharing or technically incompetent.

Do you think the police were wrong to arrest the man in this case? Was he wrong to accept the police caution?

Mumbai Police Enforce Wifi Security

Police in Mumbai are to undertake random checks of residential Wifi networks to detect unsecured WLANs. Local police, still reeling I'd guess from those awful attacks in Mumbai, believe that unsecured networks have been used by terror groups, as well as for other criminal activities.

"We may issue notices under the Criminal Procedure Code to those who do not secure their WiFi network in the future," a senior police officer told the Times of India.

Do you think people should be compelled to secure their networks? Is it irresponsible to leave an wireless network open? Share your thoughts using the comments feature.

Spykee The Wi-Fi Robot Released

Finally, about a year late, Spykee the Wifi Spy Robot from Meccano has finally been released. This clever bit of kit has a webcam built in, and using the wifi capabilities you can connect up to control him and have him wander around your house, scaring the pets and filming any intruders. When battery starts to run low, he takes himself back to his base station to recharge. Perfect for flats, less useful for houses, this is a very nifty gadget which also an MP3 player built in.

Find out more about the Spykee Wifi Robot

BT Openzone Customers Lose Cloud Access

An agreement that gave BT Openzone customers access to the Cloud's 7,000 wifi hotspots comes to an end next week. The two companies were not able to agree terms going forward, and BT's customers - residential and business - will find that the number of places they can get online is substantially reduced.

BT operates 3,000 hotspots of its own but the collaboration with The Cloud gave its customers a far wider reach. The failure of commercial negotiations between the two companies may mean BT customers will struggle to find a place to get online.

The Cloud is apparently offering a BT customers 30 days worth of free Wifi if they take out a subscription with them.

Read more on this story:
The Register: BT Withdraws Wi-Fi Access to The Cloud
ZD Net: BT's Wi-Fi Lets Go Of The Cloud

Mobile Broadband Gets Boost

16 leading tech firms including Dell, Asus, Lenovo, Vodafone and 3 have announced a collaboration which will see mobile broadband chips embedded in notebooks and other other devices from this Christmas. In the same way that Wifi users had to buy external cards before being built in as standard, it is hoped that mobile broadband - which is already proving to be very popular - will be boosted by being embedded in the machines.

The initiative, led by the GSM Association, has seen the creation of a new Mobile Broadband service mark (seen left) which will indentify the computers with the new connectivity option. Buying a computer with this symbol should mean being able to take it out of the box and start surfing straight away, depending on network coverage.

Network coverage will most likely be critical to this. I use high speed internet through 3 on my mobile phone. In London, it works brilliantly but on a recent trip to Liverpool, the service was very patchy. Buyers in rural areas may also find it a challenge to get internet access at useful speeds.

Wifi Detector Watch

Do you ever see something and think "Of course, why did I think of that!?".

That's how I felt when I saw this cool Wifi Detecting wristwatch. Why would anyone carry around a wifi detector when it could be seamlessly integrated into an attractive looking wristwatch. In case you're not familiar with what a wifi detector is, it basically looks for WLANs nearby to save you having to fire up your laptop etc to check.

So this is a very smart design idea, I think - what do you reckon?

They cost about £20 quid from I Want One Of Those and could be an ideal gift idea for the geek in your life this Christmas.