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Free Public Wifi

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 
In my many travels I have been to many cities in this great nation, and again and again at airports, hotels and other destinations I have encountered Free Public Wifi showing up in available networks. It never, ever works.

Anyone have any clue what the fuck this is? Is it some scam or hack?
post #2 of 5
Yeah, you see them all over the place. They're just laptops with some default configuration (you can note the ad-hoc network status).

http://www.wlanbook.com/free-public-wifi-ssid/

Don't try to connect to them anyways, but most of the time they're harmless.
post #3 of 5
I also gave up on those, and nowadays just use Boingo. Portland is the only airport I've been in that actually offers free public Wifi.
post #4 of 5
There is legitimate free-wifi out there, but the one Devin is talking about is caused by Microsoft's Wireless Auto Configuration (as explained in the link I posted).

But you can also tell it is not a valid access point because of the icon you see in Windows that shows it, the network shows up as an "ad-hoc" network, which is basically connections from one computer to another, instead of an access point (like a router).

If you see the the ad-hoc icon (2 computers 'beaming' each other'), don't waste your time;



I subscribed to Boingo btw, but I think I'm going to cancel it. I use it mainly for airports, but when I'm out, I like to go places like Panera to find good free wireless connections.

One thing that irks me is how many airports don't have free wi-fi, I guess I'm spoiled by Tampa International.
post #5 of 5
I recently stayed in the hospital for a few days with my wife and was pleasantly surprised to find out they had free WiFi and it was excellent. What a great convenience for family, friends and patients stuck on long stays. Thank you Northside!

As for airports and WiFi...FUCK Hartsfield in Atlanta. And I agree with ElCap, Panera is fantastic when travelling. When I travel for business I often use theirs and its worked really well.
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