Techin3D

Public wireless networks are becoming more and more popular as a means of attracting people to a particular business or service, and this is just one of the many ways in which free (or almost free) Wi-Fi can be accessed. It seems, in fact, that there are many ways in which you can connect wirelessly to the Internet, almost anywhere…

Note: please observe the title and the use of the word “almost”. We’re really looking at built up areas, conurbations and city centres. If you’re expecting to get free Wi-Fi in Death Valley, we’ve got news for you…

1. JiWire

The JiWire search engine supports dozens of countries and indexes both free and paid hotspots. Search by street address, airport code, postal code or name (SSID) of the access point. Alternatively, browse listings by business type (e.g., airport, hotel and cafe).

Several other popular Wi-Fi hotspot online listings are powered by the JiWire database including CNet Hotspot Zone

And also use Wefi maps which gives you complete map location of the Free Wifi providers in your city.

2. Join hotel loyalty programs and use coupons

This one involves a little bit of forward-thinking. But if you know you'll be on the alert in the not-so-distant future, load up and sign up now.

Many hotel chains have loyalty programs that will offer you free WiFi if you join. You don't even have to book a room!
Websites like RetailMeNot also offer WiFi coupons from your favorite hotel chains. And a whole bunch more nifty things.

3. Use a Hotspot Database

Using your smartphone or tablet you should be able to find wireless hotspots using a service such as WeFi, which offers apps for Android and iPhone. With this you will be able to find the free hotspots and avoid the locked ones.

The Wi-Fi FreeSpot Directory has thousands of free spots. It organizes hot spots by state or business and has special sections for airports and hotels. You can even find RV parks and campgrounds with hot spots. Instead of listing sites as a directory, the JiWire website lets you search by city, state and ZIP code and see hot spots plotted on a map. You can organize results to list paid hot spots, as well, though free is always going to be the best place to start.

4. Free Wi-Fi access from your cable company

You might not realize this, but if you subscribe to cable internet at home, you probably have free access to all of their Wi-Fi hotspots around town. If you live in a big city, you might even get hotspots from other cable providers too. Check your provider's web site for a map of nearby hotspots, or if they have one, download their mobile app from your app store of choice and find them that way.

Even better, five major providers allow each other's customers to sign onto hot spots for free: Bright House Networks, Cox, Optimum, Time Warner and Xfinity. Called the CableWiFi project, this alliance opens up more than 100,000 free hot spots nationwide.

5. Tether your phone

Tethering allows you to turn your smartphone's cellular Internet connection into a Wi-Fi hot spot for your tablet or laptop. It doesn't cost anything extra to tether if you have a shared data plan from Verizon or AT&T. If you never looked at saving money by switching to a shared data plan, use my data plan calculator .

Tethering is slower than regular Wi-Fi, and it'll use up your smartphone's battery and data. But it's great when you need a few minutes to securely send or receive a file from a tablet or laptop.

Android users who aren't on a shared data plan can try free third-party tethering apps like FoxFi or Easy Tether.