wi-fi

Microsoft and Motorola aren't even close to agreeing on how much the software giant should pay for the right to use patents held by its Google-owned rival.

In court filings released yesterday and obtained by Reuters, Microsoft indicated that it would be willing to pay as much as $502,000 per year to license Motorola's H.264 video patents. The company would also pay as much as $736,000 for Motorola's 802.11 wireless technology.

Motorola, meanwhile, insists that a simple fee isn't enough -- it wants Microsoft to pay a percentage of its revenues derived … Read more

Those of you bought a Mac in the latter portion of this year may want to check out a new Wi-Fi update from Apple.

Released yesterday, the Mac Wi-Fi Update 1.0 for "all late 2012 Mac systems" is meant to improve compatibility with devices that tap into your network's 5GHz band. The update specifically supports Macs running OS X 10.8.2, currently the latest version of OS X.

Users can download the update directly from their Macs through the Software Update option or by grabbing it from Apple.

The 5GHz band is found on dual-band … Read more

You've heard of FreedomPop, right? It's the Clearwire-powered 4G service that gives you a "free" mobile hot spot and 500MB of data per month, with the option of earning extra by referring friends.

FreedomPop is still in beta, but already it has some interesting competition. Karma offers a Clearwire-powered 4G mobile hot spot with 1GB of free data, with the option of earning extra by referring....strangers.

It works like this: You pay $79 for Karma's compact, 2.1-ounce hot spot, which can share its 4G goodness with up to eight devices. After you activate … Read more

A new initiative in London will give passengers free Internet minutes in exchange for watching adverts en route to their destination.

Startup Eyetease has gotten approval from the Transport for London to roll out a new scheme for the city's iconic black cabs that will allow drivers and passengers to connect to the Internet for free in exchange for viewing ads.

Dubbed CabWiFi, the "ads for access" model makes passengers watch a 15-second advert in exchange for 15 minutes of Wi-Fi time. Drivers are given a separate login for the service, which the company touts as a way for cabbies to offset some of the roaming charges that are inflating drivers' monthly phone bills. … Read more

When you connect your Mac to a network, if you receive a proper configuration such as an IP address and DNS servers from your router then you should be able to use Mail, Safari, and other networking client programs to access various services either on the local network or through the Internet. However, sometimes it can happen that despite a seemingly healthy connection you aren't able to access Web pages and e-mail.

Recently MacFixIt reader Tom ran into such a situation with a university network:

One of the new features of Windows 8 is metered wireless connections. In the past, you could run Windows programs to monitor your data usage, but they didn't do anything to actually reduce data usage. With mobile hot spot and broadband card usage on the rise and unlimited data plans nearing extinction, every kilobyte of bandwidth saved is a penny earned. Enabling metering in Windows 8 will limit your PC or tablet's data usage by preventing nonessential data transfers.

According to Microsoft's FAQ on metered connections, the effects of enabling a metered connection are:

Quick reminder: All prices, shipping charges, etc. are accurate at the time I write about them. They may (and often do) change suddenly and without notice. Frustrating, but true. Also, if a friend recommends a product and you get burned by the company, do you blame the friend? Remember, it's your responsibility to do your homework before buying from any seller; ResellerRatings is a great place to start.

Back in October I wrote about an inexpensive travel router that, much to everyone's chagrin, sold out very quickly. Here's hoping this one will last a little longer.

While … Read more

Wi-Fi is just about everywhere these days, so why do you still have to pay an arm and a leg for pricey 3G and 4G wireless data service from a carrier if you want to get online from your smartphone?

This is a very good question. Now that every smartphone on the market comes with Wi-Fi capability built-in, some frugal wireless customers are wondering whether they can subscribe to a voice-only service and use Wi-Fi instead of a costly data plan to access the Internet.

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I explain why the major carriers don't offer … Read more