Vonage Offers Wi-Fi Services; Wi-Fi Alliance Promotes Security

New efforts to spread Wi-Fi were announced Monday by VoIP provider Vonage, which plans to offer Wi-Fi Internet access in several U.S. cities, and by the Wi-Fi Alliance, which announced a product certification program designed to beef up security features.

Vonage said its Vonage Network unit will team up with EarthLink to offer its customers Wi-Fi Web access in select U.S. cities where EarthLink offers service, including Philadelphia, New Orleans, and California cities Anaheim and Milpitas.

Vonage will provide hardware, including wireless modems and software tools, to customers to promote Wi-Fi access as an alternative to DSL and cable broadband technologies.

"Customers that subscribe to this service in one of the Wi-Fi enabled cities and that wish to access the network outdoors will be able to use their laptop computers throughout the city," the Vonage announcement stated.

The Wi-Fi Alliance effort provides an industry-standard approach, called Wi-Fi Protected Setup, that encourages consumers to enable security measures."Wi-Fi has quickly become one of the most pervasive wireless technologies, but consumers have told us they want it to be easier to set up and protect," said Wi-Fi Alliance managing director Frank Hanzlik in a statement. "Wi-Fi Protected Setup reduces by half the number of user steps required to set up a network, enabling Wi-Fi to be more easily installed across a range of consumer devices."