Software for locating high speed wireless internet access

For breadth of coverage you'd be hard pressed to find a locator serving up more hot spots over a broader area than JiWire's Global Wi-Fi Finder. The site lists hundreds of thousands of free and fee-based wireless access points in countries. Enter a city or ZIP code in the site's search box or click its zoomable map to view available hot spots. You can search for locations by name or address, by location type such as cafe, library, or government office , and by provider.

Searches can be narrowed by free or fee-based sites, and by proximity; the search results can be viewed on a map or in a list. Many of the listings link to the establishment's site.

The directory lets you complete a form to add a new Wi-Fi location. The Wi-Fi FreeSpot site is also less polished than JiWire's service: in addition to a number of typos in the Wi-Fi FreeSpot listings, it isn't always clear what is an ad and what is the site's own content. Enter an address, ZIP code, country, or landmark in the site's search box to view the hot-spot locations on a map keyed to listings that include the name, address, and network ID SSID.

The listings also feature links to get directions to the site, to send the address via e-mail or text message, and to view details about the hot spot. Just because you're unable to find a free Wi-Fi access point for your location in these services' listings doesn't mean you're out of luck.

As more businesses and organizations provide public hot spots, the number of areas not covered continues to shrink. Not all of the categories of hot-spot providers the site lists are big surprises: bookstores and fast-food restaurants have been offering their customers free wireless Internet access for some time.

But parks, buses, museums, and yoga studios aren't necessarily noted for being Wi-Fi-friendly. When 'free' wireless access isn't It isn't unusual for vendors of all types to throw around the term "free" when describing their products and services that are anything but. The asterisk on the NetZero site specifies that the company's "[f]ree data plan comes with MB of data per month and requires the purchase of a NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband device.

Access to the Free plan from a specific device expires and may not be renewed twelve 12 months from the date of initial registration, or upon upgrading to a paid plan. The company's "free" service allows up to MB of data transfers per month, which is a step up from the MB of data transfers offered by NetZero's "free" plan.

However, both companies are counting on customers upgrading to a plan that charges a monthly fee. Municipal wireless networks grow at a snail's pace You may be one of the lucky wireless-network users within range of a free municipal wireless network, likely created through a public-private partnership. Political, social, and economic questions aside, implementation and management of such citywide networks pose considerable technical hurdles.

Perhaps the most comprehensive list of municipal wireless networks currently in operation and planned is available in Wikipedia's municipal wireless network page. As with most Wikipedia entries, the list is far from exhaustive. Major Shareholders. Corporate Governance. Financial Calendar. Corporate Social Responsibility. Sustainable Development. Stakeholder Engagement. Realtek Business Continuity Plan. Responsible Supply Chain. Environmental Sustainability.

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