In the current economy some people may find it difficult to pay monthly for WiFi access. Also, we live in an age where people travel for a living and never use their home WiFi connection. New technologies and public WiFi access points allow people to work from just about anywhere. Regardless of what your situation is you do not have to pay for WiFi if you prefer not to and if you know where to look for free connectivity. Here are a few tips on where you can find a free WiFi connection:
Go Downtown
When you visit the downtown area of many towns and cities you will find multiple locations that are wired for public Internet access. Most coffee and sandwich shops offer free WiFi as well as other venues such as malls and eateries. The number of public WiFi points is expanding with the increased use of mobile devices.
If you are unsure where the public WiFi access points are in your town or city you can purchase a WiFi sniffer in your local electronics store. This is a small device that will locate WiFi access points for you as you walk around your local area or a location where you are visiting.
Educational Locations
Most libraries offer free public WiFi which you can access with a WiFi enabled device. Additionally, you may be able to find free WiFi in community colleges and large college campuses. Although this is not true for all educational institutions some of them do have free WiFi in specified areas of the campus where another areas are password protected for student access.
Public Transportation Hubs
More transportation hubs are offering free WiFi access for people who are waiting for their ride. The transportation hubs include airports, train terminals, bus terminals, and any other areas where people have to spend time waiting for the transportation service.
Use Your Mobile Phone
If you already have a mobile phone most plans offer access to WiFi which is provided by your mobile phone service provider. Depending upon the terms of your plan you can access WiFi for no additional cost at any location that contains coverage by your service provider. For example, if you use T-Mobile as your mobile phone service carrier any areas that are within reaching distance of the T-Mobile signal will allow you to access a WiFi connection at no extra cost.
Check Out Sites Online for Free WiFi Maps
There are a number of websites online where you can find out in advance where the free public WiFi hotspots are. This is especially helpful if you are traveling and you are in a location that is unfamiliar. Additionally, some of the websites will tell you whether or not the connection is free, password protected, or is available for a small fee.
One of the websites online that has grown in popularity is known as WeFi which helps you locate and connect to a wireless connection at any location around the globe. The website offers a software platform for download which is compatible with Windows, Mobile, or Mac devices and helps you locate WiFi access points.
Once you download the software from WeFi you can locate and connect to the nearest WiFi connection automatically. The site map on the WeFi site is built by WeFi users to help others identify public WiFi access points including the free ones. If you happen to find a WiFi access point that is not on the map, the WeFi software will automatically add that site to the database to help others users of the WeFi platform to find the nearest available WiFi connections.
Cyber Cafes
In some locations throughout the world you can find Cyber Cafes which are specifically designed to provide public Internet access. These are locations where you can get coffee or a sandwich and then use one of their computers to access the Internet at no cost. The difference between a Cyber Cafe and a coffee shop like Starbucks is that a Cyber Cafe will provide both the PC and the Internet connection.
As a final note, it is important to keep in mind that public WiFi points are usually unsecured and they are always shared networks. For this reason, you should use caution when accessing free WiFi in public places. Hackers know that public WiFi networks are the perfect place for eavesdropping on the activities of other users. They can be hanging around the area where free WiFi is offered or they can be accessing the network from a remote location. Make sure your PC is protected with a firewall and antivirus protection and avoid entering passwords for important accounts such as your bank account or other accounts that can potentially lead hackers to your personal information.
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i would like to get free wifi for atleast 10 mins as they has been abit of trouble on facebook and im not at home to solve it and i wont be back untill later many thanks.