public wifi issues

rodgers73

I have a Google nexus that uses WiFi (no 3G capability) only. I'm in London for a few days and have found public WiFi a bit hit and miss.

Sometimes it doesn't connect at all, others I get a BT service that I need to log into.

Does anyone have any tips here - how do I find out what free WiFi networks are out there so I can sign up for them? Apart from BT I've run into The Cloud as well. Are these as simple as registering? Should I even bother signing up in the first place? Feels a bit like I'd need to sign up for a dozen networks!

sungod

there's free coverage in some areas, but it's patchy, around london quite a few coffee shops have wifi, big hotels often have open access in lobby areas

if you have bt broadband at home it gives you free access to bt wifi (formerly openzone) and partner networks, it's probably the most widespread of the uk public networks

sky broadband gives you access to the cloud, or you can sign up free, i tried it once but found it pretty dire, you get what you pay for

caveat - i don't have either, but i travel a lot and of the two i'd go for bt as i see it more often and find performance much better, luckily my company pays for wifi when i need it

if you are going to use it a lot it may be worthwhile getting an account with one of the services - but you need to look at all the tariffs and options to see which is right for your usage, bt's are here...

https://www.btopenzone.com:8443/selfcar ... roduct.htm

...depends on your usage, watch out for buying 'minutes' as if you don't logoff you can easily burn all your credit

MattC59

I have BT's wifi and it's been great. BT Openzone still exists, anyone can connect to openzone, but you need the access code, whether it's free or not depends on whether the cafe/bar/etc wants to charge you for the access code. BT Fon is the other service available, but only to BT customers. Every BT hub has a separate channel which is BT Fon only, so they create a network. There's a BT wifi app which allows BT customers to connect to BT Fon as long as they're in range of any BT hub. I believe this can be done through their website too, but you have to be a BT customer. I've found that it works well, but is obviously better in areas where there is a high concentration of BT hubs, such as residential areas.

dynamicbrick

It is very patchy in London, and yes, you will need to sign up to a myriad of providers if you really want to have internet access everywhere. I've always found BT Openzone/Fon supremely variable in connection quality.

You might find that tethering the Nexus to your phone (either by pairing, or using the phone as an internet hotspot) will give more consistent coverage.

getnoticed

There are also some wifi finder apps with databases you can download which show where you can connect easily for free. I downloaded one app and have used it around the world. It's not bad, and simply called Free Wi-Fi Finder

southdownswolf

There is always McDonalds... free WiFi and the coffee is a lot cheaper than most places.

ben@31

I've subscribed to two... The cloud and BT openzone. Through these two I manage to find free unlimited wifi in every town. Every Weatherspoons pub has free unlimited cloud and every Starbucks also offers free unlimited wifi through BT openzone.

If you subscribe with BT, you can log onto any BT router that you pick up, even household routers. As every BT router sends out two signals, the first is the owners own wifi, while the second is free BT openzone available to any other BT customer.

rodgers73

I'm signed into the Cloud website and it's asking me to pay a subscription.

Are you sure this is free???

ilm_zero7

rodgers73 wrote:

I'm signed into the Cloud website and it's asking me to pay a subscription.

Are you sure this is free???

the cloud is free in Nero

rodgers73

I'm signed up to BT wifi now - we have broadband with them so its free

ilm_zero7

wifi should be free - its another rip off britain syndrome - everywhere outside europe its free all over the place

durhamwasp

A wifi dongle could be an answer. You can get them from £10 one off.