Wi-fi Hotspots

[Baldlygo]

Please excuse my really basic question. :embarassed: But can someone please tell me something about the practicalities of logging onto wi-fi hotspots. I've long had an ipaq 1940 and a wi-fi sd type card which works fine on my home network. I've recently got a free £10 wi-fi card with a magazine.

Now if I locate a local wi-fi point in a cafe or Mcdonalds am I expected to actually be in those places buying a big mac or cup of coffee or can I just be in the street or car park next door? I've never yet met anyone who has that sort of knowledge and I have read numerous FAQs without luck.

Its not my day - I can't even get the smilies to work

[gpsn3wbie]

the thing with most Wifi hotspots in commercial establishments is that they usually require a pre-paid subscription the the provider of the hotspot...in McD's case thats BT Openzone. so it would matter not if you weren't buying anything there as lo-ng as you had the pre-paid account.

[Baldlygo]

Thanks gpsn3wbie but it still doesn't fully answer my query. I appreciate that you need an appropriate service provider card or account.

Are these hotspots positioned or adjusted deliberately so you feel obliged to use their food or other services indoors? Despite your answer I can not imagine McD would appreciate me sitting at one of their tables with a laptop just to use their wi-fi hotspot - even if parked in their car park is ok.

[Baldlygo]

I should have said I have nothing against McD and quit often enjoy their products - especially the Barbaque Sauce. I hope someone will let me know if they put anthing addictive in it ;)

[mikealder]

Try sitting in the adjacent road, or adjacent car park and see if there is connection, they have quite a range - the MacD near my local pub can be used whilst having a pint for internet connections, but we decided to install a WIFI system in the pub as its free to use if you have a PDA with WIFI switch it on and see how many networks it goes for while driving around.

Without the owners permission "evesdropping" on a WIFI connection can end up with prosecution, stick to the pre-paid ones or ones with the owners permission (i.e. the pub)
I can't offer any advice on the contents of the food you might consume while on the net - get some weighing scales if you frequent MacD on a regular basis - Mike

[nicchil]

Mostly hotspots are unencrypted and you open a "new" web browser first, it will often then come up with a welcome page - especially for those where you need to pay.

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