Hello? Japan? It's Skype Calling.

[Pat Logsdon]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://wifinetnews.com/archives/004892.html' target='_blank'>http://wifinetnews.com/archives/004892.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"San Diego tech columnist Phil Baker thought that the mobility of a Wi-Fi-enabled HP Pocket PC running Windows Mobile 2003 with a Skype client would unshackle him from expensive calls or a hard-to-find Japanese rental cell phone. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi abounded in Japan but not much he could use. The Skype solution worked better in his hotel room with a wired Ethernet connection bridged with a travel device. Still, he sees the potential, and it’s just in its infancy."</i><br /><br />See? We need more free WiFi. Yeah, I'm looking at you, Japan. You too, [insert country here]. I think I've found maybe 3 free WiFi hotspots in my travels. How about you? Do you flutter from one free hotspot to another, full of happy abandon, or do you sulk around like me and finally end up shelling out cash for a subscription?

[surur]

Isn't that the weakness of the whole system? If you had any sense you would secure your access point, and as time goes on and people become familiar with the technology, more people will secure their access points.

I can see 3 AP from my mouse and 4 from my work. Only my works one is completely open, and I've been telling them to secure it.

If Skype's growth is relying on the goodness of strangers I suspect they will be rudely awakened. In the end it will be just like a mobile phone, requiring a subscription. And then whats the difference?

Surur

[Silencer]

That's why I created www.wifi-wue.de for my city, but it's pretty hard to find people that are willing to open their WLAN for others.

[van_mierlo]

Skype is great on my wifi enabled hx 4700. I call from Holland to my friends in the US on their mobile or regular phone for just 2 euro cent / minute. While I f I would call someone in Holland on their mobile it still is 22 eurocent/minute.

So pick and choose how you call.

The voice ip is getting bigger here in Holland. Right now their are providers that use regular phones over a voice ip cable network and everyone with that provider is making free calls to each other

[igreen]

I'm with johan. I use VoIP (Skype) to call home when I travel overseas. Even if I have to pay at a hotel for Wi-Fi access and subscribe to Skype's pay service to call a "regular" phone the economics can't be beat. I pay ~$10 US for Wi-Fi access at the hotel (which I use not only for Skype but to VPN into my company's network) and pay around $0.03/minute to make a call over Skype back to the US from Taiwan for example. To make the same call on my cell phone would cost $1.29/minute. Do the math.....it adds up quickly.

[lorettaboy]

I live in Ottawa, and I find that many of the open access points around town are now secured and closed. Just between my house and Carleton University there were at least 7 open access points available, now it is down to 1 or 2. People are getting more wise about wifi security, that is for sure.