Forum Post: Free wi-fi
Posted 12 years ago on March 1, 2012, 5:30 p.m. EST by francismjenkins
(3713)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
If we had free wi-fi (which exists in some cities, I think Phili has free city wide wi-fi), we wouldn't need anything besides a cell phone. You don't need cable for TV (an indoor antenna, Hulu, and a DVR does the trick just fine), you could use a "local" cell phone carrier (just get your cell phone unlocked), and there you go, all the stuff you now pay around $200 per month for (at least) .... for around $50. It's like giving yourself an almost $2,000 annual pay raise, and you'll no longer be forced to support the 24/7 corporate media chatter boxes of bullshit.
In fact, you could pull off something close to this even without free wi-fi. You could get DSL (or FIOS) "only" (without cable or phone), use a local cell phone carrier, get a good wireless router (and share with everyone in your building, if you're an urban dweller, but still save money if you're a suburbanite), get an indoor antenna/hulu/dvr player, etc.
Coming next, ways to avoid Walmart for suburbanites :)
Lol a thread about ways of obtaining free wi-fi? Good LORD this forum is like an ADHD showcase...
Hey, I have ADD and I resent that... Oh, look something shiny...:-) You are right...sometimes, I just enjoy reading the topics- -very varied!
It was kind-of-a joke dude .... I mean, it's not a terrible idea right (but still, certainly not the most "pressing" issue of our times) :)
I find your post needlessly unk-- oh look a shiny!
avoiding Wal-mart is simple for me - I just don't shop there (mainly I just don't shop. I buy only what I need and I refuse to get it there... I like consignment stores or bartering - I like the idea of reusing things or making things on our own again becoming creative and inventive again simplifying - you neeed nothing at wal-mart it's a common misconception. Need needs to be re-defined !
For WIFI and internet to work you need to use the AT&T and Sprint and so on's communications network. We all HATE those corporations. We are filling their pockets with money to build their corporations. I say we just stop using computers manufactured in China with child labor and paying the big communications corporations. I would guess you all agree. Buy paper and pencil and pay for a postage stamp to save the postal UNIONS. End the internet today. And think of the less power needed from the big coal fired electric power generators. END THE INTERNET. I dont want to see one more post on this site. If you post then you support the big corporations. You dont want to support them,,, do you? NO,,, HELL NO... No Internet. Turn off your computers and go to bed, then wake up and get a job.
I love any plan that saves me money, but sharing your wifi has some problems. Technically it's illegal, fios thinks it's theft of service, no one checks but that can change. The more people on it the slower things load, get four or five laptops on one router and things load like grandpa's dial up. Any jerk pulls something and it's your IP address that's going to show up.
The government will provide you with free internet and a free cell phone if you meet their requirements.
LOL ... what would those requirements be?
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Do we need cable TV?
Need is a relative word, and I don't like the idea of trying to discern what other people need. Many people like television, and why not? I mean, what possible evil comes from watching a show like Big Bang Theory? In my view, CNN and Fox are noise pollution, so my point is, we have choices. We can still watch great shows, and not support CNN or Fox (if that's our choice). Some people may like CNN, and everyone should be free to choose. This is not the sort of choice that hurts others, therefore it's implicit in the concept of liberty (as it's come to be defined in our contemporary society).
No, I agree. But people that have cable TV don't deserve income subsidies.
What do you mean by "income subsidies"? I'm just talking about something along the lines of what Phili did, free city-wide wifi.
Oh, I wasn't referring to that. All I meant was, people claiming to be poor that have cable TV, aren't.
Poverty is a relative term, so I think someone can still be poor even if they have cable. I mean, if someone earns a measly $30K per year, they're sort of barely scraping by, under constant stress about paying bills, etc., maybe they tend to value cable more than other things (and that may not be the wisest approach), but it doesn't make them any less poor.
Get Android tablet (Apple is for 1% trying to look hipster), download Skype and Textfree, no reason to pay cell phone bills.
Also... FIRST.
Yes indeed, if we had free wi-fi, you're absolutely right, we could away with paying ZERO per month (and still enjoy our toys). Hmmm, okay I like your idea better :)