Blogs The Free Wi-Fi Myth

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/07/16/the-free-wi-fi-myth/

 

Blimey £4.90 for one hour?! On the face of it that seems extremely expensive (especially if you only want to browse the web and read a few emails).

 

Look on it as punishment for voluntarilly returning to that dump known as Burton On Trent.....

With regards From a Derby forumite...)

 

Yes, Virgin Trains' WiFi service is expensive, but it isn't too bad once you're online. Contrast the GNER service which offers free WiFi throughout the train, but which is then completely overloaded, presumably by people trying to watch Formula 1 highlights and play Transformice. It becomes effectively useless for casual web browsing.

I'm in favour of a two-tier public WiFi service:

(1) a free, open service with a speed cap, per-device daily usage limit (limited by MBs transferred, not by time), and/or blocking of file-sharing sites and applications, video streaming and download sites, and other potential sources of heavy traffic (iTunes, download.com, etc.); and

(2) a paid service which doesn't filter traffic.

The paid service could be unlimited, or could limit users by time and/or data usage and/or speed.

 

I believe that East Coast offer free wifi in all their coaches. It started off as first class only but I believe it went to the full train. However with East Coast going back to being government run it might well have changed again, there are spending cuts you know...

I think with virgin what you will have to do is sit in the seat closest to first class and connect a wifi aerial and place it on the other side of the door...

 

Internet explorer? Shame on you!

 

get a life, a internet browser is just a browser

 

Also the number of times I have been somewhere in need of a connection, seen free wifi advertised and then tried to log on only to find it is The Cloud or BT Openworld. Those ones really annoy me.

 

I like the free wi-fi on the Red Arrow bus service between Derby and Nottingham. It's totally free and very useful

Where I live theres a lot of BT Openzone hotspots about but they are all chargable. Wish there was city-wide free wifi

 

I often get a first class ticket from Lancaster to London much cheaper than a regular ticket by booking in advance, I don't pay more than £20-£40 for a ticket.
Also I remember seeing a website with a guide on how to still browse the web when you are being re-directed to one of these pay schemes. I think it was a simple as putting "?.jpg" on the end of every url you visit as they don't block pictures. A bit of hassle, but better than £4.90 an hour!

 

AFAIK under EU competition regulations any free wifi is limited to 2Mbp/s. I am trying to get this idea picked up in Birmingham at present - it seems like such an obvious step to me; it's good to see others agree.

 

my local pub offers genuinely free internet through the landlord's personal connection! the WEP key is even openly displayed.

 

in the netherlands i have to say its rather common to have free wifi in cafe's. especially in the university cities. i also know a few trains provide truly free internet without charge. however the hotspots at the railway stations and airports are insanely expensive....so much work to be done

 

Down near the university near where I live theres a cafe that you can sit in and you'll be able to pick up the universitys Wi-Fi which is not protected in anyway so free browsing if you ask nicely and chat to the owner or the staff they'll even let you plug in your laptop to the mains if the battery starts to go

 

My experiences with East Coast's free WiFi have proved you get what you pay for. Despite connecting to the service on many different journeys between Leeds and Peterborough with several different devices, the speed and integrity of the connection is always dire. To be honest, I'm not sure how they can even offer it as a service considering how bad it is.

 

Here in Oulu, Finland we have free WiFi for everyone in city area called panOulu http://www.panoulu.net/index.shtml.en.
I really have to say it feels strange when you travel to other citys and don't have access to WiFi 24/7 for free.

 

Here in singapore, almost every mall offers free unrestricted (but of course, speed is capped at 1MBps for non paying subscribers) wifi.

 

I will agree that the East Coast wifi is pretty awful and it would probably be quicker to connect to dial up at every station but I have to say the wireless on the Virgin trains is actually rather good. Not sure if I have connected my laptop to it or not but it certainly worked well on my phone...

 

And syphilis is just an STD.