Comments on: Montreal Wifi Network http://montrealstartup.com/blog/2007/02/23/montreal-wifi-network/ We are a venture investor Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:27:54 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Austin Hill http://montrealstartup.com/blog/2007/02/23/montreal-wifi-network/comment-page-1/#comment-41 Austin Hill Sat, 31 Mar 2007 04:48:48 +0000 http://montrealstartup.org/WordPress/uncategorized/montreal-wifi-network/#comment-41 Hi John, One of the interesting attributes of Montreal are the number of interesting grassroots social projects that are occurring in the city. One of the them, <a>Ils Sans Fil provides free community Wi-fi in many areas around the city. They also innovate on location based community IP services. This is a great non-profit initiative and I use them regularly to get my free wi-fi around the plateau. Hi John,

One of the interesting attributes of Montreal are the number of interesting grassroots social projects that are occurring in the city.

One of the them, Ils Sans Fil provides free community Wi-fi in many areas around the city.

They also innovate on location based community IP services. This is a great non-profit initiative and I use them regularly to get my free wi-fi around the plateau.

]]> By: John http://montrealstartup.com/blog/2007/02/23/montreal-wifi-network/comment-page-1/#comment-40 John Tue, 06 Mar 2007 23:25:45 +0000 http://montrealstartup.org/WordPress/uncategorized/montreal-wifi-network/#comment-40 Scaling ISF is not an easy task. The people at ISF work hard and put in a lot of hours but I think that the extra work load necessary to scale it is going to mean that the network needs to become a commercial enterprise. FON is doing a very good job at increasing the number of hotspots but their business model needs some serious development if they want to compete with commercial mesh networks and have any long term impact on the wifi market. That said, I do think that they are in a better position than the purely community based networks. I have some more thoughts that i'll incorporate into a new post. Scaling ISF is not an easy task. The people at ISF work hard and put in a lot of hours but I think that the extra work load necessary to scale it is going to mean that the network needs to become a commercial enterprise.

FON is doing a very good job at increasing the number of hotspots but their business model needs some serious development if they want to compete with commercial mesh networks and have any long term impact on the wifi market. That said, I do think that they are in a better position than the purely community based networks. I have some more thoughts that i’ll incorporate into a new post.

]]> By: Mat http://montrealstartup.com/blog/2007/02/23/montreal-wifi-network/comment-page-1/#comment-39 Mat Mon, 05 Mar 2007 05:25:48 +0000 http://montrealstartup.org/WordPress/uncategorized/montreal-wifi-network/#comment-39 You mention ISF... do you not think there is a way to scale their model? I'm reminded of FON. In my opinion, this is the most socially advantageous way to roll out wifi around the world... what are your thoughts John? You mention ISF… do you not think there is a way to scale their model?

I’m reminded of FON. In my opinion, this is the most socially advantageous way to roll out wifi around the world… what are your thoughts John?

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