Broadband Guide

Wireless hotspots

If you’ve got a wireless-enabled laptop - or even PDA or mobile phone - you don’t have to stay at home to use the internet. There are thousands of free, and paid-for, wireless hotspots dotted around the UK in cafés, airports and hotels to help you get online. (updated 09/03/2010)

How to find a hotspot

There are loads of hotspots around; you just have to find them. Use the TotalHotspot website to search out public wireless networks in your area. Central London has loads of hotspots dotted around, but if you live in a more remote area you might have to go the lobby of a hotel or local pub to get access.

Free or paid for?

There are free hotspots available, but these can be few and far between, and those you have to pay for can cost as much as £5 an hour - far more than using an internet café. However, the UK’s biggest provider of free wifi is now McDonalds’s, offering free internet access in restaurants across the country.

Wireless packages

A number of different providers offer wireless hotspot access packages. BT Broadband (www.BT.com) has its Openzone network, T-Mobile Broadband (www.T-Mobile.co.uk) offers access to its HotSpots and O2 Mobile Broadband (www.O2.co.uk) also has its own wifi network.

Freedom4 Wifi (www.Freedom4wifi.com) also offers access to wifi hotspots around the world, using different providers’ networks so that you can get connected wherever you are.

A word of warning

A word of warning must be given about using public access internet such as hotspots. Try to avoid putting in credit card details or using internet banking when connected to one of these networks, as there is a higher hacker risk. However, don’t let this put you off - millions of people regularly use wifi hotspots, which are an easy, convenient and sometimes free, alternative to mobile broadband and internet cafés.

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