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iPod touch How Many Free Wi-Fi Hotspots Are Out There?

N

nakile

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 30, 2007
151
0
For me, one of the features I would use the most on the iPod Touch are the Internet ones. Safari, YouTube, and other stuff like that. I have Wi-Fi at home, but to use these things on the go I would obviously need to find a Wi-Fi connection.

I've looked at several websites that list free hotspots, but the list are very empty and vague. I know for a fact that there are most likely tons of hotspots all over the place that are not listed anywhere or that don't have a sign out front advertising them.

I guess what I'm asking is how many hotspots do you all come across? What type of places have them? How many are free? How strong is the signal? How many work with the iPod Touch? Do any of them block TCP ports causing YouTube or the Wi-Fi music store to not work?

Thanks in advance.
 
It completely depends on your area.

Some places, like New York, have them every block, while some other locations, such as small towns or cities, have far fewer.

The best thing to do is just take you Touch around with you, and just check it out.
 
Starbucks
Carribou Coffee (Popular in MN/WI)
Applebees
Panera Bread

These places offer free WiFi, and if you're in a bigger city, say NY, or Chicago, I'm sure you will hve plenty of free WiFi places.
 
I live in a college town of about 26,000 people. It's not large, but it's not small either. Takes a good five minutes to cross.

I never really thought Wi-Fi was that widespread, but there are a few instances of it catching me off guard.

First one: I once went into an office supply store once and was poking around on the computers and watching the salesmen try to sell $400 dollar computers to clueless people. I tried getting on the Internet with one of the systems and was greeted with a Wi-Fi Acceptable Use Policy page. Turns out this places has public Wi-Fi and I never knew about it.

Second one: I'm headed into a Chinese Restaurant with some family and friends for dinner. It's not the fanciest place in the world, but inside a find a customer browsing the internet using his notebook computer. I really wasn't expecting that.

After both of these happening within a few months of each other, it kind of made me wonder how many of these things were around. Way more than I know of, that's for sure.
 
i was just driving down roads near my house and i mustve gotten 5 or 6 unsecured free networks lol..
 
If I have a wi-fi hotspot outside my house, that was installed in late 2006, would it be in Skyhook's hot-spot database?
 
quicklook2 said:
starbucks website lists all stores as t-mobile pay as you go wifi.

never been in one that does not require payment.
Click to expand...

That's been my experience, too.

Starbucks would be wise to have fee WiFi; I for one would go there much more frequently if I could use my laptop or Touch without the pay as you go plan.
 
quicklook2 said:
starbucks website lists all stores as t-mobile pay as you go wifi.

never been in one that does not require payment.
Click to expand...

We must have another place near our Starbucks that offers free wifi...because i was at one today and my touch was connected while I was drinking my coffee!!
:)
 
Like was suggested earlier, I take my iTouch and try accessing wireless where ever I am. There are a lot of places that have it. Starbucks and Borders you have to pay.
 
It kind of bothers me that some places charge for wifi. I typically won't pay for wifi and I'll tend to take my business to places that offer it for free. This past weekend I was in San Francisco at Pete's Coffee House and it was available and free. I think it's good for business not to charge as people will frequent their business more than a place that charges....I know I will!
 
JAT said:
i was at a gas station that had free wifi this weekend. Seems a little over the top.
Click to expand...

We have several Truck Stops around town that have Free WiFi in the Truck Bays. One actually has a Pay Sevice though.

Most of the "Local" Coffee Shops have Free access "IF" you make a purchase. They will give you an access code at the cash register.

All of our local public libraries have free access but they are very restricted.

Some of the most interesting places I have found are a couple of local city parks in the area. My son and I went to a siminar at one this weekend and he was able to connect with his iPod Touch with no trouble. Great band width too.
 
i was at a swap meet yesterday and found like 5 wifi connections DEVOTED to that swap meet alone. They were like: FairgroundsSW1 FairgroundsSW2 Etc.

there is wifi everywehre and to the post before all the gas stations in my area have wifi lol.. i get at least 2 wifi sources everywhere i go
 
Yeah, as I said above, WiFi is all over, if you have a laptop just drive around your town and look for areas that have open connections, this is what I did when I first moved to this god forsaken town...Can't wait to get out...grr..anyway, but yeah, just drive around or walk or jog and I'm sure you will find PLENTY of open WiFi networks!
 
stockcerts said:
I am going to enable the wifi connection from my IMac after work to see if it gives me enough coverage in my apartment for my Touch.
Click to expand...

Do you have cable or DSL hooked up to your iMac now?

If so, just go to sharing and use the iMacs built in Airport Card to share it's internet connection.

It should give you plenty of coverage unless you have a Trump size apartment.
 
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