The Premier Online Wi-Fi HotSpot Location Directory

WiFi - The New Breakout Superstar of the Tech Industry.

What is Wi-Fi you ask?

It's high speed access to your computer network and the Internet all without wires. It's simple to use and best of all it's faster than anything else on the market. While it's not ubiquitous like cell phone coverage it does offer a nice option for those of us who like to not only stay in contact but also desire to have the same high speed connectivity that we enjoy at the office. Think about that... The ability to have a high speed connection to the internet that is purely wireless and depending on what network you connect to is either fairly priced (avg. costs are between $5 - $10 for one day with monthly rates usually around $20 to $25) or even FREE. Typical speeds are DSL and greater. That beats dial-up 56k or even cellular's 3G network hands down.

Also, thanks to Intel's big multi-million dollar marketing push Wi-Fi chips seem to be embedded into just about everything. This has helped push the cost of Wi-Fi equipment down to make it one of the fastest selling markets seen in some time. According to In-Stat/MDR, a leading industry research firm, the Wi-Fi hardware market achieved staggering growth in 2003, with 28.8 million units sold in just the first three quarters of 2003, compared to 2002's 7.2 million units for the entire year.

With all that equipment out there it has made finding a Wi-Fi hotspot to log-on to a lot easier than it once was. Sites like WiFi 411 do a great service of listing thousands of locations but it wouldn't be as large as it is if not for the growth of the industry as a whole. Estimations from In-Stat/MDR place the number of worldwide hotspots at 40,000 for 2003 up from just a few hundred in 2000. We can expect the growth of Wi-Fi to just keep getting bigger since just about every major hotel chain in the US now either offers Wi-Fi or has plans to roll out a network soon. Not to mention all the coffee shops, fast food restaurants, cafes, airports, and the list goes on. It's almost hard not to stumble across a signal these days. Basically the only real problem besides the small range of the Wi-Fi signal (150 - 500ft) is the lack of roaming agreements between the big Wireless Internet service providers. Aggregators such as Boingo Wireless, Airpath, Trustive, iPass and GRIC offer some of the best solutions if you are looking for the most bang for your buck. However, none of them offer complete coverage with all the major players but they do come close. They are worth checking out.

If your needs are more about staying connected around town then a monthly or daily plan with a single network provider would probably make better sense. Why pay the extra cost for thousands of locations that you most likely will never use. Save the money and buy something to eat while you enjoy that Wi-Fi connection.

You should also be aware that Wi-Fi comes in many versions for you to choose from such as 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g.

The 802.11b standard was the first to gain widespread acceptance and is the protocol most Wi-Fi enabled equipment operates on today. Since it is also the most affordable it is the dominate standard found in most Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide.

Additional standards are set to come on the market soon and they aim to increase operating range substantially, reduce frequency interference, and increase the security involved with wireless networks.