Finding free wi-fi

[Richard Spandit]

Does anyone know of a program out there that will scan for and find free wi-fi? I'm using a Mac, and have iStumbler, which will give me a list of available networks and tell me which ones are Open, but it won't then tell me if they are "free"

Let me put it another way. Sat in a hotel at the moment, I can see about 12 networks. If I connect to one of them, trying to access, say, this website, it will automatically forward me to an access control page, telling me to enter a password/code. Where I am now, I have found a network, by tedious trial and error, which doesn't require a code. Is there a way to get that information automatically, say by pinging www.pprune.com and seeing if you get a response?

[419]

Can't help with the question, but don't forget that depending on where you are, what you are trying to do could well be illegal.

"piggybacking" off someone elses wifi was made illegal in the UK a few years ago. There have only been a few arrests for this, but even though you are very unlikely to be caught, you might still be breaking the law.

[Saab Dastard]

As 419 rightly pointed out, what you are asking about is potentially illegal, therefore I am not prepared to allow any further discussion.

SD

[Saab Dastard]

My reading of the question was:

"how can I conveniently find unsecured, free internet access, without obtaining permission from the rightful owner, with the intention of accessing the internet".

That is why I believed it was appropriate to prevent that discussion.

I am aware that there are a growing number of public wifi networks that are free - and intentionally so. These are reasonably well publicized, so if this thread is actually about finding out about these, then that is a different matter.

I have re-opened the thread on that basis.

SD

[Keef]

I've come across quite a few free WiFi networks, but I've invariably had difficulty actually connecting to anything I want to use - be it Met sources or non-aviation stuff like Skype.

I did manage to connect at a Spanish airfield, but half way through reading the TAF it asked for my credit card number...

They've just put free WiFi in the Norfolk village, as an experiment for one year. I'll give that a whirl next time I'm up there, to see if I can do any of those things.

[BigEndBob]

Mcdonalds are offering free wifi access.
Tried my local and connected ok but i didn't know what to do next to get it to Google. Was initially overwhelmed by the local CarPhoneWarehouse, they seemed to have free access as well.
Neither seemed to ask for passwords,etc.

[The Flying Pram]

They've just put free WiFi in the Norfolk village, as an experiment for one year. I'll give that a whirl next time I'm up there

I assume you are referring to "Norfolk Openlink", in which case you'll have to be fairly quick as the trial finishes in March. It gives up to an hour per session at 256k for the public - registered council users get 1mb. You do have to log on via the home page, but after that it seems to be pretty much like using your own WiFi. I found it helpful a few months ago when Tiscali's "Upgraded" service wouldn't let me access the USAF weather site - got straight through with Openlink.

[Richard Spandit]

As I stated, more or less, in my PM to Saab chap after he closed this thread, I wasn't intending to do this on an illegal basis. As has been mentioned, there are many legitimate free networks out there and sorting the wheat from the chaff is often difficult when your wifi detection program picks up tens of different networks to choose from.

I would add that in these internet enlightened times, anyone who can't be bothered to enable security on their network deserves to get piggybacked. Perhaps that is just me

[twiggs]

If you are in a residential area or are pointing your directional antenna to one, you can be pretty sure that the access point is private and not intended for your use.
On the other hand, if you are getting your signal from a commercial area where there are likely to be many laptop users around, like cafes and public buildings, it is a safe bet that your usage of the wireless connection is acceptable.

[makintw]

Could try this http://www.boingo.com/

Not free, but can be money saving for road warriors in some places

[Saab Dastard]

As I stated, more or less, in my PM to Saab chap after he closed this thread, I wasn't intending to do this on an illegal basis.

No, you didn't. Not at all.

anyone who can't be bothered to enable security on their network deserves to get piggybacked.

Given that I re-opened the thread specifically to allow discussion of legitimate free wifi networks, I take exception to that remark.

SD

[Saab Dastard]

On the other hand, if you are getting your signal from a commercial area where there are likely to be many laptop users around, like cafes and public buildings, it is a safe bet that your usage of the wireless connection is acceptable.

Nonsense.

SD

[Andy Rylance]

You just don't want to do this anyway.

Who wants to send stuff between wifi networks and your laptop that you don't know about?

Here is true story:

Checked in at hotel to find a wifi site purporting to be from the hotel and looking all like the hotel "wifi service". Wanted credit card details to access wifi. In fact it was not, it was a hoax site designed to extract credit card info from hotel guests.

If you use free wifi without encryption you might as well write down all your passwords on a piece of paper and chuck em out the window.

[Wader2]

I think PC Pus this month (could have been a newspaper) mentions public wifi points. Some that you see advertised are actually not airport owned and genuine but are actually fake sites. They will probable work but . . .

Now www.poihandler.com (http://www.poihandler.com) lists wifi access points by country. Many of these are legitmately available, like PC World, but I don't know if these are free or publicly available.

You could use their listing either for pre-journey research or use a SatNav and do a POI search.

I have just done this on my PDA, I have 9 pubs and bars listed at UK Hot Spots within 5 miles. Under Unofficial Free WiFi Internet Access I have none with 25 miles and only 3 in UK. Draw your own conclusions.