Short answer "I'm not sure"Looks like you are talking about
MetroFi
You may be able to use a network bridge to connect to the MetroFi network and then feed that signal to your home. I'm not sure of the browser authentication it talks about or how the paid (no ads) option does its authentication. Maybe it uses cookies or a username/password? Worst case you might have to have one computer connected using WiFi and then use that computer as your access point to the world using Internet sharing and/or a wireless bridge to have your entire house share the signal.
In my solution below I have ~10 devices connected to my network, none of them having a WiFi card in various locations throughout a 3 story home.
Sorry if it is a long explanation, hopefully it makes sense
This is not the solution for everyone and is far from plug/play so plan this project out before you go out and buy a bunch of equipment you may/may not know how to configure.
What it sounds like you are looking for is a network bridge. A bridge will connect networks together like a bridge connects two roads together over a river. You desire to bridge the MetroFi network to your home and have your devices connect to it without WiFi cards. Almost every device nowadays comes with an ethernet port. (Xbox, Tivo, printers, Vonage, computers, etc...) The WiFi point is always extra @ $50+ each so I see where you are going.
I have been using a network bridge for many years in my home to enable my WiFi network to reach the entire house, really not required as much anymore with the expanded network types (802.11n for example has much more range than 802.11 a/b/g) but I will still use one until my current equipment no longer does what I need. I was mainly using a bridge for enhanced coverage (sq footage) and security (Not every device on my network supported anything above WEP) so I used a WPA enabled bridge to make several WiFi hotspots in my home, then I fed that WiFi signal to a hardwired router to enable network access in certain areas of my home.
Current example:
I live in a 3 story 100 year old Italian villa with marble everything. For some reason when they were designing the place they didn't take WiFi signals into consideration :blink: I have DSL service which comes into one room in the home. My DSL feeds one standard wireless router (
Linksys WRT54G) and that router feeds 4 hard wired devices in that room (
XBOX 360,
Windows media center computer,
Vonage telephone, and a
Tivo.
Now I also want WiFi or at least network access on the other floors as well as my patio. A well placed network bridge (or two) is my solution.
I am using two
Linksys WET54GS5 bridges to cover all of my areas in both WiFi and hard wired network access without running a single cable inside any walls. If I were planning on staying in Italy or any place for longer than 3 years hardwiring would be the way to go. Now there are many products out there that I have not personally used like access points and range extenders and new stuff coming to the market everyday. (I'm just saying what works for me)
I have two bridges which connect/extend my network to two other areas of my home. i.e. areas where a WiFi signal would not typically reach due mainly to the construction material of my home. (each location will vary) These two bridges now also provide 4 hard wired network ports which feed another Tivo, a network based printer and my
windows home server Finally to have a strong WiFi signal on the rooftop patio and 3rd floor I have the 2nd bridge extending my WiFi network there as well.
Where this solution may/may not work for you is the MetroFi authentication. Sounds like the MetroFi has its own SSID. If your bridge you use can see that SSID is the first step, should be no problem. Now that it can see the SSID and connect your next step would be how the authentication works, especially if you plan on going the ad free route. This unknown area is what tells me using at least one computer to share the connection may be the most reliable option. IF you could get it working without a single access point computer it may be more trouble than it is worth in the long run (i.e frustration with your Internet access point dropping out)
Your access point computer would not have to be fast/state of the art. All it is doing is sharing an internet connection. I would make it a small headless computer and control it using a
VNC client. (Headless meaning no monitor, keyboard or mouse - once it is setup and configured)
Hope that helps, more than it hurts (sorry it was so long
)
