# Free Wifi??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 23, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902 "2012-11-23T15:38:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/1 "2012-11-23T15:38:36Z")
I am sick of these people on shows sayinig how great their cell phone are. I mean the ones selling you the cell phones. They say, “our data plans are cheap and you can use free wifi. Lots of places have it.” Ok first of all their plans aren’t cheap, but where is the free wifi? I mean placesl like Starbucks have it, but you have to pay for coffee or something to get it. The library in Chicago has it, but only if you’re in the building. Is there anything as really free wifi. People are always talking about just cruising around hooking on people’s wifi. I have never seen an open Wifi, except at my library. Are these people stealing it? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/2 "2012-11-23T15:49:26Z")
> [@AndyLee](#): > > I am sick of these people on shows sayinig how great their cell phone are. I mean the ones selling you the cell phones. They say, “our data plans are cheap and you can use free wifi. Lots of places have it.” > > Ok first of all their plans aren’t cheap, but where is the free wifi? > > I mean placesl like Starbucks have it, but you have to pay for coffee or something to get it. The library in Chicago has it, but only if you’re in the building. > > Is there anything as really free wifi. People are always talking about just cruising around hooking on people’s wifi. I have never seen an open Wifi, except at my library. Are these people stealing it? I was at a bar last night that had free wifi. There’s no reason a person sitting on the sidewalk outside the bar or at the bus stop next to it couldn’t use it. It’s not like the monitoring their router or blocking people they don’t think are in there drinking. Also, as for places like Starbucks or the Library…a lot of people spend a lot of time at those places. If spend two hours at Starbucks or the library, you can get a lot of surfing done. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/3 "2012-11-23T15:57:28Z")
And the beauty of it is how easy it is to spoof a ‘free wifi’ network or listen in and steal every bit of information those idiots send over it! :rolleyes: Yeah, trust maybe Starbucks and the Library, very few other places. And don’t be an idiot about what kind of sensitive information you send over it. Like for example: If you sit in an airport using a “free wifi” and you start ordering stuff on-line using your favorite credit cards, you probably shouldn’t be all that shocked when someone else uses your cards too! My father spent a bit of time dealing with stupid crap from his emails accounts being compromised by him using them over a ‘free wifi’ the last time they were in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/4 "2012-11-23T16:04:20Z")
There is a lot of “free” wifi in Norway, but as Chimera says, it may not be all that free if you lose information. I did find that there is some security though- at the airport you had to inout flight details and a password was sent. I’m more intrigued with your comment about this: “our data plans are cheap and you can use free wifi. Lots of places have it.” What has the cost of their plans got to do with the capacity to use free wifi? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/5 "2012-11-23T16:08:48Z")
Good amount of places I go to in South Florida has it. Starbucks of course, the Publix supermarket I most often shop at, the bar I sometimes go to, the Mexican restaurant I used to eat lunch at once a week. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/6 "2012-11-23T16:09:15Z")
Places whose free wifi I have used (sometimes while sitting in their parking lot): airports trains a convention center libraries my local grocery store Staples Home Depot And I’m sure there are others I don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/7 "2012-11-23T16:21:07Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I’m more intrigued with your comment about this: > > “our data plans are cheap and you can use free wifi. Lots of places have it.” > > What has the cost of their plans got to do with the capacity to use free wifi? If your 3G/4G plan has a data cap, when you’re using wifi it doesn’t count against it. So, if you have a 2gig limit, you can move over to wifi and stream Pandora for 3 hours every day while you watch youtube videos and chat on Skype and it won’t count towards your 2 gigs. It’s like saying “I’m moving to [some city] because they have cheap gas AND free public transportation”. That is, you can take the bus for free when it works for you, but when it doesn’t the gas is cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/8 "2012-11-23T16:22:45Z")
I’ve been on the grounds of several major universities that have it. Also, large public buildings like hospitals. And I swear to Og, the rest stops on the Kansas Interstate Highway System. Get thee to Kansas! ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/9 "2012-11-23T16:30:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > If your 3G/4G plan has a data cap, when you’re using wifi it doesn’t count against it. > So, if you have a 2gig limit, you can move over to wifi and stream Pandora for 3 hours every day while you watch youtube videos and chat on Skype and it won’t count towards your 2 gigs. > > It’s like saying “I’m moving to [some city] because they have cheap gas AND free public transportation”. That is, you can take the bus for free when it works for you, but when it doesn’t the gas is cheap. Thanks. I think I understand a bit better now. I was more reading it as “With our plan you can access free wifi” whereas you can access it with any plan. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/10 "2012-11-23T16:48:49Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Thanks. I think I understand a bit better now. I was more reading it as “With our plan you can access free wifi” whereas you can access it with any plan. When they started capping data plans the wireless providers made a big point of reminding/educating people that wifi is free and doesn’t count against your cap (and sometimes faster) so you’ll always hear people saying that ‘wifi’s free’. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/11 "2012-11-23T17:43:50Z")
In southern Connecticut and perhaps elsewhere in the tri-state area, Cablevision is the dominant cable company and it’s trying to compete with the phone company for broadband customers. One way it does that is by having free WiFi in many public places throughout the area but only for its customers. So if you’re a customer of theirs, you can get free WiFi in a lot of places around New York. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/12 "2012-11-23T17:50:02Z")
McDonalds Tim Hortons Schools ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/13 "2012-11-23T17:55:17Z")
Well, you can also use your cell phone as a “hot spot” for your laptop, should you be somewhere that doesn’t have Wifi. Some people tether their cell phones with their laptops at hotels that charge a lot for Wifi access (I have heard of $25/day in some hotels!), or even if your Internet goes down or whatever. So “free Wifi” could mean that your cell phone _becomes_ the Wifi hotspot for laptops/tablets. As a test, my brother and my cousins were staying with me at my house and I turned on the tethering hot spot feature of my Android cell phone, and they were all able to use their laptops and iPads simply from my cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/14 "2012-11-23T18:20:39Z")
I thought this was gonna be a Zombie post from last century…😉 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/15 "2012-11-23T18:32:54Z")
The Main St in the town I just moved from had wifi available. You could get it in the cafes and stores, or just sitting in the park. Handy! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/16 "2012-11-23T18:51:42Z")
There are some [entire cities](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_wireless_network#United_States) that have free wifi available. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/17 "2012-11-23T19:44:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In southern Connecticut and perhaps elsewhere in the tri-state area But how often do you get hit by one of Doofenshmirtz’s Inators? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/18 "2012-11-23T19:55:28Z")
I have _no_ idea what that’s referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/19 "2012-11-23T20:11:03Z")
Phineas and Ferb. A really well-written cartoon with an evil scientist named Doofenshmirtz, who always mentions the tri-state area. ---
**Author:** ![dimmy\_derko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@dimmy\_derko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dimmy_derko)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902/20 "2012-11-23T20:14:10Z")
This thread is a disappointment. I was hoping it was referring to a sequel to **Free Willy**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-wifi/641902.md?page=2)