Wi-Fi Hotspot News

You may already know about our little sister, PolkaSpots Web. PSWeb provide a complete online business solution to lots of UK companies. You might be interested to see their latest concoction for one of our oldest Wireless Hotspots, Kitchen and Pantry in Notting Hill, West London.

A fantastically busy cafe, Kitchen and Pantry were one of the first local businesses to sign-up for the PolkaSpots Supafly Wi-Fi Hotspot Service (yes, we were Supafly in 2005)!

PolkaSpots was the obvious choice for their online business needs. We already looked after the broadband for both shops, as well as their Wi-Fi Hotspot Service - it was logical to have all online services looked after by one company. Only PolkaSpots can do that.

No where else can you find a company for all your digital needs. Broadband for your office; Wi-Fi for your customers; a website to advertise your business and products; ecommerce to sell your goods; blogs, forums, newsletters and more. 

Have a look at their smashing new site. An online shop's on it's way too. Visit them and check out their Wi-Fi Hotspot login screens too (and enjoy a coffee or two while browsing the Internet):

www.kitchenandpantry.co.uk

For more information about PolkaSpots Web, visit their site here.

Another one bites the dust. The Coffee Plant, a much loved cafe on the Portobello Road, has decided to use PolkaSpots for their Free Wi-Fi Hotspot Service.

As a local, London based Wireless Hotspot company, we're proud to support our fellow local businesses. You'll find a Wireless service, provided by our goodselves, all around Notting Hill.

That's what a friend of mine said last night when I told him I was off to Zambia to sort out a Wi-Fi Mesh Network for Linknet. The truth is, Linknet are bringing the Internet to 25 rural African villages. They've asked that I come and help them with their mission.

In Western countries, the Internet is taken for granted. We use it all the time for business and pleasure. In Rural Africa, things are vastly different. The Internet will be such a massively essential part of people lives, we're proud to be helping out.

I'll be off on November 11th 2009 for ten days. During my time there, I'll be helping the Linknet team with their existing network and adding 5 more villages. What a great opportunity - I can't wait to get them going.

Update: you can download the press release here.

It all started with a server, sitting on the floor in a small basement flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London...

In the summer of 2005, Simon Morley was fresh from a Mechanical Engineering degree, and considering his career options. Just by chance, his local café asked if he could provide affordable, timed Internet access. Digging around, it seemed that only large companies were providing this kind of service...but they were expensive and inflexible (and boring).

And so PolkaSpots was born. Simon gained a new flatmate - a single server in a massive box, humming relentlessly away 24/7...no sleep without earplugs, no room in the kitchen, and electricity bills going through the roof.

The first mail-shot saw lots of companies sign-up, and PolkaSpots' customer-focused, personal service continued to attract new business. A year later, Simon was joined by Web Ninja, Michael Speechley who's helped grow the company from just 30 Wireless Hotspots to about a million.

There are now 5 of us - we still work in Ladbroke Grove (albeit in a slightly different office) and we're still listening to our customers.

Call 020 7183 1471 to find out more...

Announced earlier this week by the Wi-Fi Alliance, by 2010 Wi-Fi devices will be able to talk directly to each other. At the moment unless you set up an ad-hoc network, when communicating with another machines, all traffic is passed through your router. The future extension will allow all sorts of connections to your machine including printers, mobile phones, mice and keyboards.

As Mac users, we've sort of been able to do this for ages, but it's not really been implemented widely. The new specification will bring greater speed and ultimately kill bluetooth (?).

We think this is a great way to reduce the load on large networks and are glad that Wi-Fi's looking like a technology that's going to be around for a little longer!

Like you, we've spent a good few hours faffing around with trendy social networking tools. Some we could figure out and others, like Booboo, caused a few more issues.

You agree that there's some merit to be found in most of them. Twitter's got a certain handiness for those that need to let the masses know what they're up to. We use it and we love it.

Newsletters are another tool that you may write from time to time but don't think do anything. You'd be wrong. Perhaps you don't even think they're a tool. Weblogs are the same; this month we were shocked to find a customer writing nonsense on his, just because someone said it was a good idea. If you're going to write them, keep them relevant please.

But Facebook's where we draw the line. Who in their right mind wants to be friends with an estate agent? We found one today, actively promoting their facebook profile. They had 74 'friends'. Having 74 friends does not make you cool. Do you care what an estate agent is up to on a daily basis? Certainly, we'll never buy a house from this man. The truth is, there are very few businesses that truly have a tribe following them...

Before you start using these tools, get some advise before you go live. If perhaps you run a surf shack in Newquay, you'll find few people interested in what you do. However, if you're in the business of mending the bearings on computer fans, perhaps your best route is to pick your marketing tools a little more carefully.

We can help you define your business tools. Just call before you start.

BT have shipped 500,000 of their Openzone Wireless hotspot boxes this year. According to their website, they're halfway towards building million strong wireless hotspot network. Why is this a problem...

The owners of these Openzone boxes don't even know they have them and you're probably one of them.

If you've signed up for BT broadband this year, the chances are you're sharing your broadband internet connection with anyone in your area. Picture the scene, you're sitting on the couch happily doing your online banking and you don't know who else is using your Internet connection. BT claim it's safe but is that really what you want? Why would anyone want to share their home broadband connection?

You can turn the network off but why should you have to do this? If it's illegal to opt you in to online marketing schemes, how is BT's deployment actually legal? What's even worse is that thousands of existing BT modems have been 'upgraded' and are now beaming out their illegal Wi-Fi network.

If you're a business owner, you might think this is great - attract customers with BT Openzone. Instead, what you'll do is attract people to your business who'll suck your bandwidth from your office computer and take up your seats. You have no control over your network and who uses it.

Phone BT and things get worse. You can offer Free Wi-Fi, but you have to buy vouchers from BT. Your customers can signup for a BT account, but you don't make any money. You have a problem, no-one knows who you are.

Why is all this good for PolkaSpots Supafly Wireless Hotspots? Because with PolkaSpots you can:

• Control who's using (or not using) your Wi-Fi Hotspot
• Offer Free Wi-Fi that's actually free
• Offer Pre-paid Wi-Fi and turn a profit for your business
• Re-brand the login screens to advertise your business
• Phone and talk to friendly people when you have a problem

All in all, we actually think it's a great idea. In fact, it's one of the best ideas we've heard of - the problem is that you should have the choice. As a small company, we don't have the clout to do such thing, nor would we want to. The good news is that it's bringing Wi-Fi to light and with it calls from lots of businesses!

So, turn your BT Openzone wireless network off... Once you have done this, call us up and order your PolkaSpots Supafly Wi-Fi Hotspot box!

Our Supafly Wireless Hotspot login pages have now been revamped to make it easier for mobile users to login.

On small devices, such as iPhones or Blackberry's you will see the following shrunk down pages:



Users with laptops and other devices will see a larger screen with a little more information as below.

If you want to see them in their full glory, why not head down to one of our Wireless Hotspots or install one in your own business. You can sign up online here or call the team on 0800 321 3106.