Want to stay connected on the go, but don’t want to pay for the privilege? The good news is, you may not have to – finding free Wi-Fi is getting easier all over the world, especially if you know a few little tricks to tilt the odds in your favor.
Here are five of the best ways to get connected and stay online without spending a penny.
Start with your internet and phone companies
Surprisingly, the easiest way to get connected may be through your existing phone and Internet companies.
Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T subscribers have access to their company’s network of access points around the world, while a group of cable companies, including Time Warner Cable and others, offer similar service within the United States. .
McDonalds y Starbucks
Next on the list: large chain restaurants. McDonalds has something like 35,000 restaurants around the world – almost all of their locations in the US offer free Wi-Fi, as do many of the international ones. Abroad, you may need to make a purchase to get the code, but a coffee or soda will do.
Starbucks is also a promising place to find that elusive free connection, with more than 20,000 locations. The more than 7,000 stores in the United States offer it for free, but your mileage will vary abroad.
While free, unrestricted access is available at some international Starbucks locations, others require a phone number or access code received with a purchase, while others charge for the service. Anyway, it is always worth asking.
Local chains often provide a similar service too – do your research a little ahead of time to find out the names of some large coffee and fast food chains in your destination.
Free Wi-Fi Finder Apps
In a world where free Wi-Fi is so highly prized, it’s not surprising to find many smartphone apps to help you find it. Some of the best global apps include Wi-fi Finder, OpenSignal, and Wefi, but country-specific versions are also worth tracking down.
For example, there are a couple of apps that will find free Wi-Fi in Japan, one that gives you access to the whole of the UK if you’re a Mastercard customer, and many others. Just search the Apple or Google app stores for the appropriate apps for your destination – you never know what you’ll find!
FourSquare to the rescue
A useful place to find free Wi-Fi is FourSquare, the popular local search site. Most people use the app on their phones, but the actual website is full of user updates for coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and transportation hubs that contain the relevant Wi-Fi details.
The easiest way to find it is on Google for ‘wifi <place> foursquare’ – I’ve used this trick at various airports around the world, for example, and it has worked surprisingly well. Just remember to do it while you still have internet access!
Wi-Fi for a limited time? No problem
While unlimited free Wi-Fi is becoming increasingly typical, there are still many airports, train stations, and hotels that only offer a certain amount of time for free before insisting that you hand over your credit card details.
If you still need access when you hit the limit, but still want to stay connected, there are ways to fix the problem. The method is different for Windows and MacOS, but both rely on temporarily changing the ‘MAC address’ of your laptop’s wireless card, which is what the network is using to track your connection time.
As far as the network is concerned, a new address is a new computer, and the connection time starts over.
Sorry, phone and tablet users – this is much more difficult to do on standard Android and iOS devices. However, if you’re traveling with a laptop, it’s a useful little hack.
Don’t forget that even if you can’t change the MAC address, the limits are per device, not per person. If you are traveling with (for example) phone and tablet, use one until time is up and then use the other. Don’t connect them both simultaneously!
