Stop connecting to BT FON at home with the BT Wi-fi for Android app beta

A new version of the BT Wi-fi Android app, currently in beta, will let you choose which hotspots you connect to. 

This is great news for those of you fed up of automatically connecting to your neighbour’s FON hotspot when you’re at home. 

If you’ve ever signed up for BT Wi-fi in Starbucks or Barclays or any of the venues where it’s available, you’ll have registered with the service. Once you’ve done that your phone or tablet will prioritise BT Wi-fi hotspots, which include BT Openzone and BT FON. 

While it’s great when you’re out and about this is not so great when you’re at home and you want to use your own WiFi.  

Read Recombu Digital’s guide to BT Wi-fiThe forthcoming Android app comes with improvements to the way your device prioritises networks, which means you’ll have greater control over the way your phone behaves. If you’re a BT Broadband customer, this will also prioritise your domestic Home Hub WiFi signal over the FON channel. 

BT will be releasing this feature as an update to the BT Wi-fi app on Google Play in the near future. In the meantime, you can try out an early version of the app for yourself. Here’s how to get on board.

Follow this link on your Android device to register first of all. Uninstall BT Wi-fi from your phone or tablet (if it’s on there) and then reinstall it. As a registered member of the beta group you should automatically get the beta version. 

Right now this should work with virtually every Android device out there, with the exception of the HTC Desire S. BT told Recombu Digital that a specific fix for this device is being worked for the launch of the app on Google Play. 

BT currently has 5.2 million WiFi hotspots in the UK. BT’s public WiFi hotspots, formerly called BT Openzone, will eventually be rebranded under the name ‘BT Wi-fi’. 

BT FON hotspots use the signal from BT Broadband customers Home Hub wireless routers. As a BT Broadband customer your Home Hub’s signal is automatically part of the FON network by default. Continuing to opt in to FON means you’ll get access to the rest of the FON portion of the BT Wi-fi network. Opting out means that you don’t get to share your bandwidth with everyone but you’ll also not be able to access any FON WiFi sites.