IPass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The correct title of this article is iPass. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
- For the electronic toll collection system see I-Pass.
iPass is a commercial company that provides Internet services to business users working remotely (out of their country or region). Typically this means travellers with a laptop computer.
For most countries in the world, dialup service is available, in which one calls a nearby phone number that connects to the internet. Today it is also possible to use iPass with a wi-fi connection, if there is a Hotspot with an iPass arrangement available. ISDN connection is also offered in some regions such as Europe.
The main benefit that iPass provides is a single account that can be used without setup almost anywhere in the world; it is possible to achieve the same thing by signing up for local services, but this can be a lot of bother for short-term usage, requires local knowledge, and may even be impossible in the time available.
The service is not free (unlike a walled garden (media) feature that allows free access to certain sites). It is usually expensive compared to actual local access, but is usually cheaper than an international telephone call back to the home country (and in fact this may not be an option for some service providers).
iPass does not sell directly to the public; they operate through resellers, which include many large Internet Service Providers such as Tempest Telecommunications, or through a few non-ISP websites such as WorldDial and International Dialer. Typically end-users sign up with an ISP in their own country, or a company may have an account. This makes them relatively difficult to directly reach end-users, as users must go through the reseller.
In practice, iPass performs their function primarily by a massive organisation of billing agreements with local providers; they also provide a convenient dialer application with country selection.
