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Show HN: 500,000 free WiFi hotspots plotted around the world

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Re: Show HN: 500,000 free WiFi hotspots plotted around the world

#21

Post by icebraining »

glossyscr wrote: post #13

Wrong question. I don't care where I can find free WiFi. Nowadays, every damn coffee shop, hotel or mall has free Wifi—I care about fast and free WiFi with speedy up- & downloads and low latency. Well executed implementation though. EDIT: Why the downvote?

EDIT: Why the downvote?

I didn't downvote you, but your post did sound rude to me. Finding free wifi may be easy where you live, but it's not the "wrong question" for many others.

I live in an European country, and while the bigger cities are well served, smaller towns and rural areas often only have one place, if that. If I didn't have a Fonera account, I'd be spending a lot of time looking for hotspots.

Re: Show HN: 500,000 free WiFi hotspots plotted around the world

#23

Post by mightybyte »

glossyscr wrote: post #13

Wrong question. I don't care where I can find free WiFi. Nowadays, every damn coffee shop, hotel or mall has free Wifi—I care about fast and free WiFi with speedy up- & downloads and low latency. Well executed implementation though. EDIT: Why the downvote?

I don't care about fast nearly as much as I care about it not having ridiculous hoops I have to jump through to get connected. I just want to connect to the network and be on without having to first have my requests intercepted by their system until I register or click "connect". I suppose maybe this falls under "well executed implementation", but I think it deserves to be mentioned specifically.

Re: Show HN: 500,000 free WiFi hotspots plotted around the world

#24

Post by dnlrn »

lucb1e wrote: post #11

In case anyone can't find the Netherlands, I could understand why: http://i.snag.gy/7vbiZ.jpg This also explains why I'm so frustrated with WiFi abroad: I probably got spoiled here. Here we can find WiFi in the most unlikely of places (e.g. supermarkets, buses); in Germany you can find one in a coffee shop if you're lucky, but that one is probably paid as well, just like all the other ones.

What also hinders open Wi-Fi adoption in Germany is a law called "Störerhaftung", which basically states that the owner of the Wi-Fi is liable for all damages that users of his Wi-Fi do, for example filesharing, hacking, whatever. Keeping track of all users is not an option that all free Wi-Fi operators have. I'm sure other countries have similar laws. Do The Netherlands not have such a law?

Re: Show HN: 500,000 free WiFi hotspots plotted around the world

#28

Post by maxerickson »

wging wrote: post #17

I'd love to see this adjusted for population density -- what does a high wifi hotspots/person tell you? Maybe just that the area is wealthier. So what if you adjust for wealth too?

In my area the data set isn't worth doing that with. It misses places that have free wifi and includes what looks like a personal cellular AP.

Re: Show HN: 500,000 free WiFi hotspots plotted around the world

#29

Post by jjawssd »

This is not mapping free WiFi hotspots. This is mapping open Wifi hotspots.

They are not the same.

For example, KPN in the Netherlands is not free, and xfinity wifi in the USA is not free.

For this to have any sort of credibility, there needs to be a discriminant filter mapping truly free vs open hotspots.

For me this current map is too noisy to be of value. Try using it for free internet, and you too may run into disillusionment and frustration.

Re: Show HN: 500,000 free WiFi hotspots plotted around the world

#30

Post by ahi »

vinay427 wrote: post #6

A point of constructive criticism is that there are some inconsistencies in how large-scale public WiFi seems to be handled. For instance, in Ann Arbor, MI every University of Michigan building AFAIK has free public WiFi (as well as a private network for university affiliates). However, I only see a few listings for the "MGuest" network in the area. Is there a better feasible way of handling this?

Next door in Ypsi there seems to be only one point for Wireless Ypsi when the town is pretty well covered.
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