At a rest stop on the side of the road or perhaps in the middle of a city park, you turn your computer on and have instant secured internet access, without any network cables or any log-ins or payment to ISP provider....
Yeah right that seems very optimistic, doesn't it?
But free and safe internet access is a long way off, with many skeptics believing that might never see such a day. The optimists around us may argue that more and more people everyday are getting free and safe internet access, but compared to number of people not having this facility the skeptics might be right in saying that universal free and safe internet access seems really a long way off.
Almost all computers and smartphones these days have in-built programs that automatically detects and connects to available wireless networks that come within the device's range. When you sign in to the network you will likely be given the option to log-in again the next time you are nearby. A network icon on the screen shows you the strength of the network of bars. All this is fine as long as the network is secured, but typic9ally all public wireless networks are almost always compromised. Hence you have tools like the inSSIDer for Windows and iStumbler for Macs that help you detect problems with the wi-fi networks and troubleshoot them and manage your wireless networks.
Now, there are many free wi-fi hotspot locator services that you can use to check out the available wireless networks near a location that you are planning to visit. For the breadth of the area covered your best option would be to check out JiWire's Global Wi-Fi Finder that lists over hundreds of thousands of either free or fee-based wireless networks across as many as 145 countries. Besides our very own Wikipedia also has an extensive list of wi-fi networks across countries that are listed state\city\county-wise.
Many vendors providing wireless services in many places do not typically use the term "free". They have a specific amount of data transfer that is free after which you must switch to a paid data plan.
Municipal wireless networks tend to grow at a snail's pace, that is if you are lucky enough to live in a place with free municipal wireless network. The municipal networks are normally created through a public-private partnership. Notwithstanding the political or economic problems, implementation and management of such a city-wide wireless network poses considerable technical challenges.
Yeah right that seems very optimistic, doesn't it?
But free and safe internet access is a long way off, with many skeptics believing that might never see such a day. The optimists around us may argue that more and more people everyday are getting free and safe internet access, but compared to number of people not having this facility the skeptics might be right in saying that universal free and safe internet access seems really a long way off.
Almost all computers and smartphones these days have in-built programs that automatically detects and connects to available wireless networks that come within the device's range. When you sign in to the network you will likely be given the option to log-in again the next time you are nearby. A network icon on the screen shows you the strength of the network of bars. All this is fine as long as the network is secured, but typic9ally all public wireless networks are almost always compromised. Hence you have tools like the inSSIDer for Windows and iStumbler for Macs that help you detect problems with the wi-fi networks and troubleshoot them and manage your wireless networks.
Now, there are many free wi-fi hotspot locator services that you can use to check out the available wireless networks near a location that you are planning to visit. For the breadth of the area covered your best option would be to check out JiWire's Global Wi-Fi Finder that lists over hundreds of thousands of either free or fee-based wireless networks across as many as 145 countries. Besides our very own Wikipedia also has an extensive list of wi-fi networks across countries that are listed state\city\county-wise.
Many vendors providing wireless services in many places do not typically use the term "free". They have a specific amount of data transfer that is free after which you must switch to a paid data plan.
Municipal wireless networks tend to grow at a snail's pace, that is if you are lucky enough to live in a place with free municipal wireless network. The municipal networks are normally created through a public-private partnership. Notwithstanding the political or economic problems, implementation and management of such a city-wide wireless network poses considerable technical challenges.
Comments