Fonera 2.0g next to an iPod touch 1st generation, a Sony Ericsson W910i, a Microsoft Arc mouse and a (standard size) 2 pencil.

Yes, believe it or not, this little stylish box will actually take the load off your computer. Whether YouTube, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, BitTorrent, RapidShare, or Megaupload is your favourite web 2.0 app, the Fonera 2.0g will take care of upload and download, without keeping your computer turned on.

For example, connect an external USB 2.0 hard drive to the port on the back, select the torrent you’d like to download and leave it do its job. By the time you get back from work or school, the file would have been already downloaded and waiting for you. You can connect to the the router’s file server wirelessly from any Windows, Mac or Linux machine and even stream video files. The second Ethernet port allows you to connect any computers without WiFi to the Fonera (if you have more than one, you can use a cheap switch to interface).

The NAS (Network Attached Storage) functionality can be accessed by either a local FTP, a Samba share or  web interface, which goes to show how versatile this device is.

The way the router is built allows for its functionality to be extended by using small plugins, much like the ones you use in Firefox. Fonera 2.0g comes pre-loaded with a bunch of these, including one for wireless printing support, live webcam streaming, music streaming, and backup – like Apple’s Time Capsule. Adding more is very simple, by simply clicking to the + sign next to the description. The router also supports VPN, QoS and can be used in conjunction with 3G/UMTS modems.

For example, let’s say you’re at a conference or party and want to share some WiFi? An AC plug, a Fonera, your standard USB mobile modem and ta-dah: internet connectivity for the whole floor. This feature also works for people who use the internet for just email and browsing, allowing them to ditch their home wired connection and use the modem with the Fonera to provide wireless internet to the whole house. Don’t forget though, that many of these mobile modems have bandwidth caps.

The back of the Fonera 2.0g: Two Ethernet ports and one USB. You can have more ports by using connecting an Ethernet switch and/or an USB hub.

You’d expect such a feature rich device to have a gloriously complicated interface. Well, it’s beautifully simple and logically constructed. You can check out a live demo of the Fonera Web User Interface over at FON. The router itself has a simple and inconspicuous design with a white shiny finish that resembles the polycarbonate MacBook. LEDs on the front will point out the status of the power, local connectivity and internet.

For the specification oriented folks, here are the numbers:

• 93.5 mm x 25.5 mm x 110 mm (excluding antenna)
• 1 USB 2.0 port that can be expanded by using a hub (preferably self-powered).
• External detachable antenna (1,5dBi)
• Encryption methods supported: WEP 64bit/128 bit, WPA, WPA2, WPA mixed with cyphers: TKIP, AES, Mixed.
• 2 SSIDs, one public (for sharing with the Fonero cummunity) and one private, for your personal use. You can disable the public signal, but you will lose you Fonero status and won’t be able to use free wifi at any Fon hotspot worldwide.
• Range 20-70 meters depending on your surroundings.

Another nice feature of the Fonera 2.0g is that you can easily replace the MAC of the router, directly from the Web UI. This is useful because some ISPs tend to lock the account to a single computer, to limit the use of WiFi unsecured networks, that tend to rack up bandwidth from all neighbours in a 50 meter radius. The firewall is another treat, with settings for enabling and disabling FTP, Samba, port forwarding, UPnP, WAN-LAN access and so on.

For the less tech-savvy, the wiki page provides walkthroughs and information an all of the features in plain english.

The Fonera 2.0g is without a doubt the swiss knife of routers and gets you free WiFi access around the world from the Fonero community. The only thing better is its bigger brother, the Fonera 2.0N, which shares the same features and adds the faster 802.11N wireless chipset. I have one, and I love it.

Thanks to Inouk from FON who kindly provided this review unit for testing.

La Fonera next to an iPod touch, a Sony Ericsson W910i and the AC adapter.

Share Your WiFi

Before we jump in, lets familiarize ourselves with the company. Fon was started in 2006 by a well-known entrepreneur, Martin Varsawsky and is currently backed by Skype, Google and BT (British Telecom). The company hopes have as much as a million active routers by 2010 – which would mean extensive WiFi coverage for metropolitan areas and city centers – for free.

A map of active routers in Manhattan, New York available here.

The concept is quite simple: you share a fraction of your internet bandwidth at home and in return get free access to other routers around the world. If you don’t have a Fonera router you need to buy a cheap day pass or watch an ad to surf the net. And, if the owner of the router lives near a popular location such as a Starbucks – he can even earn money from the 50% cut Fon gives on every Pass sold.

Hardware: La Fonera

While the device itself looks unimpressive compared to the goal it’s trying to achieve, to share your internet connection securely, it is really a feat of engineering and design. When I opened the package I was impressed to see a very small device – no larger than an iPod touch or classic – with a simple white design that might have very well been created in the Apple labs.

In the box you’ll find a power adapter, the omni-directional detachable antenna (2dBi with RP-SMA connector) and a white flat standard Ethernet cable. The cable comes in handy if you need to connect the router to the computer for diagnostics or to the cable modem, Ethernet switch, etc. You can use any Ethernet cable with the La Fonera – it auto-negotiates transmissions even without a crossover cable. I was a bit disappointed that the router offered only one Ethernet port, making network  attached storage devices useless without an additional network switch.

The Fonera is built by Accton with an Atheros chipset which offers 802.11b/g for a maximum of 54 Mbps with WEP/WPA/WPA2 authentication and AES/TKIP encryption. The device measures 93.5 mm x 25.5 mm x 70 mm (excluding antenna).

You can easily configure the router from a Web-based interface, by connecting to the private signal (SSID). The interface is clearly laid out and instructions are available if the network fails for some reasons – including clearly written troubleshooting tips. Power users will certainly find that some of the settings on more advanced DD-WRT routers are not available through the standard official firmware. They can, however trick the La Fonera into using a hacked version which unlocks a wealth of new settings, such as the useful bridge mode and advanced statistics.

You wouldn’t expect much range from a little antenna – but the La Fonera did quite well covering my apartment, with no black spots and enough throughput to sustain a feature film streaming in SD, in XVID format and a DVD mounted on a virtual drive and shared via the network.

One annoying thing about the La Fonera is its closed DNS system – the router is set up to use FON’s DNS servers and cannot be changed; this disables PPTP VPN solutions and can cause some privacy concerns. This is necessary for the Free WiFi function to work properly.

The La Fonera isn’t the only router offered by Fon; they also have the La Fonera+ which offers an extra Ethernet port and the La Fonera 2.0 (currently in beta) which offers  2 Ethernet ports, an USB connector and a platform for developing and running applications such as bit torrent and photo uploads – an innovative feature for a router. They also plan on including compatibility with USB HSDPA modems, storage and printer sharing via the USB port.

We’ve got invites for reduced priced routers – so send us an email an we’ll send one to you.

Conclusion

La Fonera is a decent router, for a very small amount of money. FON’s innovative business model could dramatically change the way we think about WiFi and internet access. At the end of the day, it’s all about consumer choice – and if this proves to be as successful as its creators want it to be – it will definitely bring a lot of value to its customers. Go to FON.