Introduction

After much deliberation, I've decided to try my hand at this blogging thing, and indulge my passion for free wireless Internet access by passing along my impressions of what you're likely to find at free and open Wi-Fi hotspots in and around Kansas City. This will give me an excuse to: a.) try out new hotspots as they come on line, and b.) waste inordinate amounts of time at them maintaining this blog. Gee, it seems like either way I win!

Anyway, before we get started, let's spell out exactly what we mean by "free" and "open." Naturally, if a network is encrypted or password protected, its owner doesn't want just anyone hopping onto it, but the absence of encryption or authentication doesn't by itself necessarily mean that all are welcome. As some of you may have heard, there's a guy in Florida right now who's in the process of learning this lesson the hard way. We're going to limit our discussion here to locations with access points that were unambiguously put there for public use, such as coffeehouses and libraries, and shy away from places such as private residences and offices where the network may have been left open inadvertently-and consequently, any discussion of "wardriving" or the results of such surveys will be off-topic here.

And, of course, just because a network is open doesn't mean it's free (Starbucks, anyone?). While I'm as happy about the outcome of the Cold War as the next person, I really don't think capitalism will once more find itself in peril as a result of my preferring to stick to discussing complimentary Internet access here as opposed to play-for-pay. Granted, I'm biased-I think that giving away something like Wi-Fi is a wonderful way to draw traffic to a location, and one of my motivations is to encourage more of it. Besides, anyone who's really enjoying success with the fee model probably doesn't need my help. If you charge for it and they still come, it beats me as to why, let alone how to get more of them to.


Well, I think that's enough groundwork. Feel free to weigh in with your comments and compare your experiences with mine, and if you live in or around KC don't hesitate to let everyone know should you stumble across a new hotspot we should take a look at.