Wireless community networks or wireless community projects or simply community networks, are non-centralized, self-managed and collaborative networks organized in a grassroots fashion by communities, non-governmental organizations and cooperatives in order to provide a viable alternative to municipal wireless networks for consumers.
A hotspot is a physical location where people can obtain Internet access, typically using Wi-Fi technology, via a wireless local-area network (WLAN) using a router connected to an Internet service provider.
Fon Wireless Ltd. is a for-profit company incorporated and registered in the United Kingdom that provides wireless services. Fon was founded in Madrid, Spain, in 2006, by Martín Varsavsky where it headquarters most of its operations.
BT Broadband is a broadband service offered by BT Consumer; a division of BT Group in the United Kingdom. It was formerly known as BT Total Broadband, BT Yahoo! Broadband and BT Openworld. With the introduction of BT Infinity, the Broadband package now refers to the legacy ADSL broadband products, such as ADSL Max and ADSL2+.
Tethering or phone-as-modem (PAM) is the sharing of a mobile device's Internet connection with other connected computers. Connection of a mobile device with other devices can be done over wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), over Bluetooth or by physical connection using a cable, for example through USB.
Wi-Fi calling, also called VoWiFi, refers to mobile phone voice calls and data that are made over IP networks using Wi-Fi, instead of the cell towers provided by cellular networks. Using this feature, compatible handsets are able to route regular cellular calls through a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) network with broadband Internet, while seamlessly change connections between the two where necessary. This feature makes use of the Generic Access Network (GAN) protocol, also known as Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA).
EE TV is a subscription IPTV service offered by EE; a brand of British telecommunications company BT Group. It requires the signing up to and use of the EE Broadband internet and phone service, with connection via EE's official router, the EE Smart Hub.
MSN WiFi Hotspots, previously Windows Live WiFi Hotspot Locator, was a website that helped users to locate wireless Internet hotspots worldwide and view their positions on a map using Live Search Maps.
BT Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) provided by BT Consumer; a division of BT Group in the United Kingdom that was launched in March 2015. It uses the EE network via an MVNO agreement signed in March 2014 as well as using the spectrum BT won in the 2013 4G auction. EE is now owned by BT following a successful acquisition that was officially completed on 29 January 2016. BT Mobile operates alongside BT Business Mobile which is provided by the BT Business and Public Sector division. BT Mobile launched as a SIM-only service and had more than 400,000 customers as of 5 May 2016. BT Mobile stopped accepting new consumer customers in October 2023, as part of plans by the BT Group to make EE the main brand of the consumer business.
T-Mobile UK was a mobile network operator in the UK. First launched as Mercury One2One on 7 September 1993, the network was originally operated by Mercury Communications. one2one was purchased by Deutsche Telekom in 1999, who rebranded it with their global T-Mobile brand name in 2002.
BT Wholesale and Ventures was a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group that provided voice, broadband, data, hosted communication, managed network and IT services to communications providers (CPs) in Great Britain. It was merged with BT's Business and Public Sector division to form BT Enterprise in October 2018.
BT Consumer is the main retail division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group that provides fixed-line, mobile, broadband and digital television to consumers in the UK. It buys access to some of these services from BT's other divisions: Openreach and EE. It is the largest consumer fixed-line and broadband ISP in the UK.
BT MyPlace is a service that dynamically delivers content and information to people, based on their personal preferences and location. The location-based service is available over BT’s outdoor Wi-Fi network in central London and the West End. It uses the BT Openzone outdoor Wi-Fi network in Westminster.
MiFi is a brand name to describe a wireless router that acts as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot device.
Telefonica UK Limited, trading as O2 (stylised as O2), is a British telecommunications services provider, headquartered in Reading, England which operates under the O2 brand. It is owned by VMED O2 UK Limited, a 50:50 joint venture between Telefónica and Liberty Global. O2 is the UK's largest mobile network operator, with 23.8 million subscribers as of May 2023.
EE is a British mobile network operator, internet service provider and a brand of BT Consumer, a division of BT Group. It was established in 2010 and is the second-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 21.2 million customers as of September 2022.
The E5 is a mobile Wi-Fi device produced by Huawei Technologies, and is part of the company's mobile Wi-Fi series that includes the E5830s, E585, E583c and E586. The E5 series connect to other devices using a wireless interface. The devices are pocket size and allow users to access the Internet through any Wi-Fi device, mobile phone, game console, digital camera, notebook and personal digital assistant (PDA).
The Cloud is a provider of public access Wi-Fi hotspots in the United Kingdom and is a member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance. It has over 22,000 Wi-Fi hotspots network access points in the UK.
BT Business and Public Sector was a division of United Kingdom telecommunications company BT Group that provided fixed-line, mobile, broadband and IT services to businesses and the public sector in the UK and Ireland. It bought many of its services from BT's other divisions: EE, BT Global Services, BT Wholesale and Openreach. It also sold other vendors' products and services such as the Avaya IP Office business telephone system.
LinkUK or InLinkUK is an infrastructure project that planned to cover major cities in the United Kingdom with free Wi-Fi service. LinkUK kiosks, called Links, was initially rolled out in the London borough of Camden in 2017, and later in Lambeth, Hammersmith & Fulham and other boroughs. Afterwards, it was intended that Links would be installed in the remainder of Greater London and eventually across major cities in the UK. LinkUK is an expansion of the LinkNYC project covering New York City with free Wi-Fi service.
