Looking for Free Internet in All the Wrong Places

Our information infrastructure is woefully under developed.  Case in point, throttling: the practice of when cellphone companies choke off access to data to stave off overloading the system.  Company after company is getting rid their unlimited plans.  The new plans that are being rolled out include penalties for going over a certain amount of data.  In the wake of these restrictions people have been getting creative to avoid charged and fees.  Let’s see what are doing.

1.       Use someone else’s Wi fi

Plenty of places like coffee shops offer free Wi fi in order to attract patrons.  However, many of these hotspots are operated by AT&T or T-Mobile.  Starbucks is famous for making a deal with AT&T, making it more difficult for customers of other carriers to connect and even charging them roaming fees if applicable.

2.       Renting a Wi fi Bubble

For a fee, various companies around the world will rent you a small Wi Fi connecting device.  Boingo is one of the larger such companies in the US.  There was even an Ad Agency that used homeless people as mobile hotspots.

3.       Power to the People

There’s a growing community of people who believe that access to the internet should be a right.  As a medium, the World Wide Web is an invaluable tool for expression.  To that end, there are thousands people across the US and the world who provide free hotspots.

We all know there is no such thing as a free lunch.  It may be free to you, but someone somewhere along the line paid for it.  So before consulting your IT support guy, check out this list and be sure that you know what you’re getting into when looking for some free wireless internet.