publicwifi
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Google's public WiFi hotspots come to Mexico
Google's Station WiFi is no longer reserved for the eastern hemisphere. As of today, the public hotspots are available in over 60 "high-traffic" locations in 44 Mexican cities, including airports, malls and mass transit stations. Coverage should expand to more than 100 locations before 2018 is over. As you might guess, Google has a little help -- it's partnering with local internet provider Sitwifi to convert its existing hotspots to the Station format.
Facebook's WiFi locator is available to users worldwide
Last year, Facebook began testing its "Find WiFi" feature on its app, which lets you locate businesses nearby that have free, public WiFi. Find WiFi was launched in a few countries in 2016 and today Facebook announced it would be expanding the feature globally.
A chat with the folks bringing free gigabit WiFi to NYC
We've been charting the progress of LinkNYC for the past year -- from a mere concept to a legitimate replacement for New York City's payphones. Now as LinkNYC has begun installing its gigabit-speed wireless hotspots, I sat down with Colin O'Donnell and Dave Etherington of Intersection, the company behind the project, to discuss their progress so far. On top of providing free internet, the kiosks will also offer smartphone charging, free voice calls, and local information. Of course, it's all ad-supported. It's always been an intriguing concept, but LinkNYC is now coming into focus as a potentially groundbreaking upgrade for all New Yorkers. Its blistering fast gigabit speeds is significantly faster than any commercial ISPs (even Verizon FiOS), and LinkNYC isn't planning to limit users in any way. In fact, as O'Donnell and Etherington tell us, they wouldn't mind it if the service actually replaced people's home internet provider.
New York City's public WiFi hotspots are being installed
Back in November 2014, New York City announced plans to replace pay phones with gigabit WiFi hotspots in 2015. Well, the year's almost up, and today the installation began. The Verge caught a look at the process as the so-called LinkNYC access points began going up. Once the kiosks are up and running, you can expect to connect to WiFi within about 150 feet. However, you may have to wait a bit to give it a go, as a test phase is expected to follow once the equipment is in place.
French prime minister says public WiFi will not be banned
A few days ago, French newspaper Le Monde reported on the existence of a document suggesting the country's police are seeking a bill that would severely limit internet freedom, access and privacy. Among requests noted on the "wishlist" were a ban on access to Tor, a way to shut off public WiFi access during emergencies and for providers of encrypted communications to hand over the keys to authorities. Now, prime minister Manuel Valls says a ban on WiFi is not a part of any new security measures.
French police want to ban public WiFi during emergencies
The FBI isn't the only law enforcement agency that wants to restrict privacy for the sake of national security. Following the Paris attacks of November 13th, French police and gendarmes have submitted a wish list of security measures for a new bill, according to a document discovered by LeMonde. Among other things, police want to ban public WiFi during states of emergency, "because of the difficulty of identifying people connected to it," according to LeMonde. French law enforcement also wants the Tor network banned completely and would force companies like Microsoft to hand the encryption keys for apps like Skype to police.
Cuba approves its first free public WiFi
Public internet access in Cuba usually comes at a steep price -- a local may have to use a week's wages just to spend an hour emailing their family overseas. However, they now have a much, much more reasonable option. The country's state-run telecom, ETECSA, recently approved the country's first free public WiFi. Cubans who can reach a cultural center in Havana can now use the shared DSL line of a well-known artist (Kcho) as much as they want. The 2Mbps connection is pokey by most standards, but the no-cost approach means that locals don't have to give up what spending power they have just to get online.
Italy hopes free public WiFi will help revive its economy
What would you do to stimulate a sluggish economy? Push tourism? Cut taxes? Well, Italy is trying something a little different: free public WiFi. Over 100 legislators have proposed spending €5 million ($6.3 million) over three years to help install gratis hotspots in thousands of locations across the country, including airports, large shopping areas and even courtrooms. Theoretically, the move helps Italy make up for its poor broadband adoption (under 1 percent of residents have service at 30Mbps or faster) by making internet access virtually ubiquitous. It could also help visitors, many of whom would otherwise stay offline during their stays.
Windows Phone 8.1 will automatically sign in to trustworthy WiFi
Tired of having to slog through web portals on your Windows Phone just to sign on to a coffee shop's WiFi? That won't be a problem once Windows Phone 8.1 arrives. Its Wi-Fi Sense feature can automatically accept the terms of use for networks that are both free and trustworthy, getting you online much faster than usual. You also won't have to verbally share login details for your own WiFi network. You can securely share your router's password with contacts in Facebook, Outlook.com and Skype, giving friends an internet connection (but not full network access) without setting up a guest mode. If you're the sort who sometimes avoids WiFi because of the hassles involved, you may want to give Microsoft's mobile OS a closer look.
Google donates $600,000 to bring free WiFi to San Francisco parks
San Francisco has been striving for city-wide internet access since 2007, and with a little help from Mountain View, it's now one step closer to achieving that lofty goal. After receiving a $600,000 donation from Google, 31 public parks in one of the world's most tech-savvy cities will have free WiFi for at least two years. Google's gift will cover installation and maintenance of all necessary equipment for the project, which builds upon the the city's existing public WiFi hotspots like San Francisco International Airport and City Hall. While blanket coverage for the entire city is still a ways off, offering free internet access in places like public parks is a giant step forward in making the web accessible for all.
Leeds turning telephone boxes into free WiFi kiosks, crowdsource your memories for posterity
Public WiFi projects don't normally involve antique restoration and historical crowd sourcing, but that's exactly what's going on in Leeds. Local telecoms company aql is renovating Giles Gilbert Scott's iconic red telephone boxes in the area, adding solar panels, networking equipment and giving them a blue paint-job. While the boxes will be locked to keep the wireless gear secure, the company has added touch screens to the outside, letting locals make emergency calls and leave messages that share their memories about the area -- a better fate for the hardware than inspiring this portable monstrosity.
Google Offers, Boingo add more locations for free and discounted public WiFi
Love venting your E-Train frustrations with Boingo and Google Offers' free WiFi? While the Manhattan program ends on September 7th, the partnership has swelled its coverage to include a further 24 locations across the nation. From today, eight malls will offer WiFi in cities like LA, SF and Seattle -- while Airport hoppers will be able to get a 50 percent discount on 24-hour access at 16 airports including JFK, O'Hare and Midway, if you sign up with Mountain View's offers service. If you're at nearing the end of your data cap and need some free internet stat, head on past the break to find out more.
NYC launches free public WiFi trial, links it to skeevy payphones
Free public WiFi may be the sort of thing you automatically associate with Starbucks, but starting today, you'll be able to add NYC payphones to that short list. The city's pilot program, just officially launched, aims to spread gratis wireless service to residents of the five boroughs and the ceaseless crush of tourists they love to hate. Currently, only ten kiosk locations are live across Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan -- a planned rollout to Staten Island and the Bronx is underway -- and, for any curious passersby, can be easily located by their very conspicuous signage (as seen above). So, if you're out and about the Big Apple and that 4G LTE connection's just not cutting the mustard, why not give King Mayor Bloomberg's city WiFi a try? Hit up the source below for the hotspot specifics.
Karma rewards WiMAX subscribers for sharing their 4G
Normally, we associate Karma with religion, or if we're honest, luxury hybrid sedans. A company by the same name would rather you make that connection with WiMAX Internet service. Much like a 4G version of FON, subscribers to the Clearwire-rooted network are required to share their Internet link-ups with the public as a WiFi hotspot. As the name suggests, though, sharing the connection ideally pays back dividends through free access: for every guest who signs in on Facebook to get 100MB of free data through the hotspot, another 100MB goes towards the hotspot owner. If all goes well, the Karma user creates a virtuous circle (pun entirely intended) and pays little if anything for Internet access; while the WiMAX hotspot costs $69, the $14 per gigabyte rate only kicks in if the credit runs out. Trial runs are starting in New York City and might only hit 500 hotspots by the end of 2012, but the hope is to upturn the wider industry and make sure there's never a shortage of public WiFi.
