Is the “Internet-free tool” reliable?

"What does it feel like to like someone?" "I feel like he has Wifi!"

There are endless jokes about WiFi on the Internet. This network technology, which was born in 1997, is now used skillfully in various places. The number of mobile Internet users in my country has reached 527 million. After the popularization of smart phones, although the traffic charges have been repeatedly reduced, the public's demand for it is also increasing day by day.

At the same time, the battle among the big guys over the "free internet tool" has already begun.

Which "Internet-free tool" is the best?

When it comes to the best year-end bonus in 2015, we have to mention Wifi Master Key (Shanda): all employees who have been employed for more than 4 months will receive a Tesla. Behind such a generous offer are 500 million users and 230 million monthly active users. In fact, the six dragon balls of the Internet have gathered in free WiFi: Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, 360, Xiaomi and Shanda.

In March 2014, Xiaomi cooperated with Maiwei Di, a free WiFi service provider in commercial places, to allow Xiaomi and MIUI users to quickly use wireless networks in public WiFi environments without entering passwords. At that time, Xiaomi's free WiFi recorded more than 20,000 free hotspots across the country.

Later, Baidu and 360 also made their moves. Zhou Hongyi even separated 360 Free Wifi from the mobile assistant, calling it "the best breakthrough product in 2014". Unlike Xiaomi, 360 cooperates with operators and claims to support 6 million operator hotspots across the country, with one hour of free service every day, and more time can be obtained by completing tasks (similar to Alibaba's "Tao Wifi").

Judging from its actions, Tencent has the biggest ambition. Tencent did not set up a separate free WiFi app, but embedded the option into QQ, which has 800 million users. At the same time, Tencent is connected to both operators and commercial WiFi, intending to establish a secure WiFi alliance, so that merchants can push more information to users through WiFi.

What is the purpose of free WiFi?

As the saying goes, "At home, we have a router, and when we go out, we rely on WiFi." As a key interface for connecting devices and services, WiFi has become a battleground for the entrance to the mobile Internet. According to general expectations in the industry, free WiFi can provide a market value of up to one trillion yuan.

An engineer from Tencent revealed:

"Free WiFi is currently a loss-making service for the Internet. If you want to make a profit from this service, selling advertisements alone is not enough. Increasing user stickiness and seizing the entrance are the key. With users, everything will be easy."

However, there are different opinions in the industry. A former operator staff member revealed that the cost of purchasing WLAN time from the three major operators is very low. Many companies claim to provide hundreds of millions of hours of WiFi, but the actual capital investment each year is only tens of millions. In comparison, the return on investment is very high.

Li Lei, vice president of WiFi Master Key, once told the media:

"At present, we spend millions every month to purchase traffic from the three major operators, but the monthly income from advertising, software distribution, etc. can fully support this part of the cost." In addition, the layout of free WiFi also reflects the rigid demand of O2O. When there are enough free WiFi, the push of merchant information and the promotion of mobile payment become more convenient, and the cost of acquiring users is also lower.

WiFi is easy to use, but how safe is it?

We often see media reports on security issues of free WiFi, which is one of the important reasons why the current free WiFi market is lukewarm.

Internet companies are all saying that their WiFi has no security issues: Tencent has established a secure WiFi alliance; TaoWifi said that Alibaba's wireless network service will be completely separated from the user's Taobao account system; 360 Free WiFi continues to play the security card, saying that it can conduct all-round security scans of hotspots including DNS anti-tampering, anti-ARP attack, and anti-phishing WiFi, which can effectively prevent hacker attacks.

However, Ning Yu, director of China Mobile's Business Support System Department, said that the technical defects of WiFi itself have gradually been exposed, and the non-telecom-grade equipment quality of Internet companies and the lack of professional operational capabilities have increased the difficulty of solving the problem.

In practice, there are not many hotspots available in Zhongguancun Business District. Many users around me have also reported that they cannot connect to free WiFi hotspots or cannot access the Internet after connecting. In a word: WiFi is not easy to use, and you need to be careful when using it!

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.