Free Wi-Fi Router: Get 'Em While They Last!

FON has just launched a promotion giving away 10,000 of its wireless routers, in honor of the company's one-year birthday. All you have to do is register on the FON website and give them a shipping address. I just registered for one and the site says it should arrive in about three weeks. There are no shipping and handling fees or any tricks; you don't even have to provide a credit card number.

What's the catch? FON's La Fonera router is a little different than your usual wireless setup. Instead of a single signal, the router offers two: One, you can encrypt and use privately, just like you would with any off-the-shelf router at home. The second signal is open and freely available to the public. Basically that means you can share your broadband connection while keeping your personal data private.

Why would you want to do this? Because when you join the FON community and share a connection, you also get access to all the other La Fonera routers throughout the world, free of charge. If you're in range of a FON Access Point (and there are thousands worldwide), you won't have to pay for Wi-Fi at Starbucks or expensive 3G service. Try plugging in your ZIP code on the FON maps site to see what service looks like near you. Coverage hardly blankets San Francisco, where I live, but there are a surprising number of routers in the city. (You can read more about how FON works here.)

Of course, adding another 10,000 routers to the mix is only going to help. There's really nothing to lose: Head over to FON and get your free router!