{"id":1617,"date":"2021-09-30T10:57:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T10:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/?p=1617"},"modified":"2021-09-30T10:57:14","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T10:57:14","slug":"researchers-seek-answers-to-wi-fi-zombies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/researchers-seek-answers-to-wi-fi-zombies\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers Seek Answers to Wi-Fi Zombies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Ed Sutherland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are Wi-Fi freeloaders reality or myth? Can the image of Wi-Fi zombies connected to the Internet, yet disconnected from their neighbor, be reversed? Faced with headlines questioning the wisdom of free Wi-Fi hotspots, two researchers are on a quest to reshape the image of Wi-Fi users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA survey and complete study of hotspot users is needed now more than ever,\u201d says Will Hawkins, a University of Virginia researcher. Hawkins is conducting an online survey hoping to find some answers to the most pressing questions of who is using hotspots, and why they use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hawkins\u2019\u00a0brief survey\u00a0asks Wi-Fi users how much time they spend at hotspots, what attracts them to hotspots (interacting with others, working outside the office, the convenience or the fact it is free, etc.), and the most common uses for\u00a0 hotspot Internet access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBusinesses offering free hotspot access have recently started to fear the freeloader,\u201d Hawkins says. After one Seattle caf\u00e9 dropped Wi-Fi access during weekends because those drawn to the free hotspot outnumbered paying customers, a bit of soul-searching began over free Wi-Fi as a practical business model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEventually, business owners may stop offering hotspots if they become overly concerned with this,\u201d says Hawkins. \u201cA study like this will help decide if the freeloader is a myth or reality.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the image of a parasitic Wi-Fi user is disproved by the survey, it may confirm to hotspot operators that offering free Wi-Fi access is worthwhile. \u201cThis study will help spur other researchers into developing ways to offer free access while discouraging freeloaders,\u201d says Hawkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results could also be used to help Wi-Fi device makers tailor their gear to Wi-Fi hotspot usage.  Hawkins muses that \u201cIf people are only browsing e-mail and the Web, then there may be a market for a lower bandwidth access point with longer range.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey began in June and continues through mid-August. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zombie Invasion?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 40 percent of consumers report e-mail and Web browsing as their favorite ways to use public Wi-Fi hotspots. However, the view from companies offering free Wi-Fi differs, according to\u00a0Jupiter Research\u00a0Wi-Fi analyst Ina Sebastian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the bulk of sessions still consist of customers who check e-mail or use work-related applications, the bulk of data are now music and movie downloads \u2013 data transfers have increased significantly since last year,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean Savage, known for promoting online concepts such as \u201csmart mobs,\u201d has turned his attention to revamping the image of Wi-Fi hotspot users. Savage has coined the term \u201czombie\u201d to describe the faraway behavior and disconnected attitude of many hotspot users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The zombie effect occurs when \u201cone person tunes out from what\u2019s going on around her to tune into her laptop,\u201d says Savage. The impact is even more pronounced in caf\u00e9s, where a community atmosphere is, apparently, expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To re-inject Wi-Fi hotspots with that community atmosphere, Savage recently unveiled\u00a0PlaceSite. The project creates an online atmosphere tailored to individual caf\u00e9s. Users log in and \u00a0share some information about themselves. They are then able to learn about other wireless users at the same location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The service is set to roll out in October in San Francisco, and Savage plans to keep PlaceSite free for users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Savage, along with Seattle\u00a0Intel\u00a0researcher Joe McCarthy, studied that city\u2019s caf\u00e9s and how people used them. The applications they used were initially designed at the desktop computers in homes and offices, where an \u00a0inward focus was expected. As computing moves beyond the desktop and becomes mobile with Wi-Fi, Savage says, that inward concentration may be out of place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have lots of situations where \u2018desktop\u2019 behaviors and tasks become possible in places traditionally associated with other activities,\u201d says Savage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Ed Sutherland Are Wi-Fi freeloaders reality or myth? Can the image of Wi-Fi zombies connected to the Internet, yet disconnected from their neighbor, be reversed? Faced with headlines questioning the wisdom of free Wi-Fi hotspots, two researchers are on a quest to reshape the image of Wi-Fi users. \u201cA survey and complete study of hotspot … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Sandler","author_link":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/author\/ericsandler\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1617"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1619,"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617\/revisions\/1619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wi-fiplanet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}