Speaker 1: Coffee shops, libraries, hotels. Oh my, you have options if you need free wifi when you're out and about, but is the signal at the nearby Starbucks, any good? You don't wanna walk all the way there and then find out you can't even properly buffer this important YouTube video that you're watching. Here's how to find free wifi on the go. So you can stay connected.
Speaker 1: If you don't have internet at home, or you are traveling in a new city, you [00:00:30] might be on the hunt for a place, with a solid wifi connection where you can hang out for a couple of hours and get some work done or catch up on what's happening in the world. I can save you some time on the ladder. It's all bad, but free wifi qualifies as good. Now, if you have any experience looking for a signal, you can use, you know, the usual suspects to check out in case you don't know. It's the ones I mentioned to open the video, coffee shops, libraries, hotels, sometimes [00:01:00] restaurants, fitness centers, maybe even a grocery store. The first couple are usually pretty reliable, but the rest who knows. And even with those first couple, it's hard to know if you're going to get a reliable signal. There's no way you can know beforehand.
Speaker 1: Right? Right. Yeah. There's an app for that. A couple of them, actually, we are going to talk about those apps. Then dive into what to expect with a free signal at one of those places before finally talking [00:01:30] about the pros and cons of getting free wifi versus just using your own hotspot. I have two apps for you to try out, to see which one works better for you. Both are available on iOS and Android. Both are free, at least for the basic info, which I'm guessing is completely necessary. Since you're looking for free wifi, you're probably not gonna want to pay for an app. That would be a deal breaker. They're called Insta bridge and wifi map. And since wifi map has a [00:02:00] much more mundane name, we're giving Insta the honor of going first, let's take a look.
Speaker 1: Insta bridge has a lot going on. These are free apps with lots of premium stuff. And Insta bridge really wants to be my default browser and get my start rating and show me an ad and get me to try this free trial of its VPN. Look, maybe don't keep this app installed or block the notifications, cuz I get lots [00:02:30] telling me I need to switch to its browser over and over. I mean you get it, but the basic info here is good. So if you're in a new city or you're trying to find a good place or a rotation of places near your home, use the app and then stick in a box and lock the box and throw this app back into the events. Note the tabs at the bottom. I like the default list view because it quickly shows different signals and how far away they are.
Speaker 1: I also like that they're shown with walking distances, instead of say [00:03:00] driving distances, each listed signal gets a quality rating as well. So I can keep scrolling until I find one that's at least okay. I can tap on any signal to see more info. I can tap venue to see the map and the speed test tab hasn't worked for many of the locations I've checked maybe in bigger cities, but at least I've got a lead on a solid signal now, plus check it out. Sometimes publicly available signals still have a password. [00:03:30] Now in coffee shops and hotels and such, you can likely find the password printed on a card on the table. Or you can just ask someone, but Insta bridge will help out with this info when it knows, but it's another premium feature still. You can get there without paying, just watching the app.
Speaker 1: I do like that. You can switch to a map view, almost everything else exists on theum side of framing, but you want to quickly find info about free wifi nearby. You can do that here. Option [00:04:00] number two is the one with the more boring name, wifi map, at least it's self explanatory. It is less intrusive. You'll still see popup ads on the regular. It's also less intuitive, but it's still handy. If you're willing to take a little bit more time to get to know the app in exchange for less bloat, maybe this is the one you want and it's not really that much less intuitive. It's a map. Blue is wifi. Tap one to [00:04:30] see details. Or you can scroll up on the available wifi nearby window. Here's a list. Note. It doesn't rate the quality of this signal at a glance. The list also only shows the ones currently in the frame of the map.
Speaker 1: I can easily scroll on the map to reframe the list. That's fine, but I do like instant bridges, just continual list. So I don't have to do as much searching. Like maybe you have no idea what direction to look in a new city. But again, this is mostly nitpicking. The app works [00:05:00] the tabs at the bottom, show you a leaderboard. I mean, okay, there's VPN and you can download regions so you can find hotspots without using cellular data. I prefer Insta bridge for that initial search, but I'm much more likely to keep wifi map on my phone. After this video is done, I'm gonna like immediately delete Insta bridge. It's probably already showing me another notification. This is the price we pay for free. [00:05:30] Okay. You've found your place and you're on your way. Here's what to expect. Coffee shops are common targets, but generally speaking proper etiquette is to buy something.
Speaker 1: Especially if you're gonna hang out for hours, perhaps some coffee, but I'm not a coffee drinker. So even a muffin or a bottle of water and they'll usually leave you alone. That's just etiquette. You can try to hang out without buying something. It'll actually probably be a while before anyone confronts you when they do it's time to find the next spot on [00:06:00] that list, do not confront the employee, please. They are just doing their jobs and they are almost certainly underpaid. Just move on. Libraries are a great place. If you want wifi and don't wanna be pressured into buying anything, did you know libraries actually have all kinds of free stuff, books and movies and whatnot, and you can borrow these things without paying as well. Wild stuff. Libraries are pretty cool y'all and you can trust me. I'm definitely the authority on cool with any [00:06:30] open signal, be careful of what business you conduct.
Speaker 1: It's an open signal. Your info is less secure. That's why a lot of these apps are trying to pitch you on their VPN. Your info will definitely be safer if you're using a virtual private network or you can just pony up for a hotspot and keep your own info secure that way, a hotspot isn't free. Obviously some carriers let you use your cell phone as a hotspot, but you'll be using data at the very least. And you might [00:07:00] pay more for that plan, really, if you can find a spot with a password, but that password is available for free, like a library. That's really kind of the best of all worlds with lots of these free signals though. You'll see one of these pop up windows. When you first log on asking you to agree to terms and conditions enter at your own risk. I've clicked okay.
Speaker 1: On lots of these terms and conditions. And it is possible that these companies now have the rights to all of my positions of value, but that's where I turn the tables [00:07:30] because I don't really have much of value to begin with. Thank you very much for watching. Speaking of things of value, please hit that thumbs up button. If you enjoyed the video, I value that very much and subscribe to CNET YouTube channel for more comment below, if you know how to access more free things, that's always advice I like to see. And if you want to know more about wifi in particular, check out this video right here. Thanks again for watching.
