# are free WIFI hotspots common in Canada?



## imageinnovation (Jun 10, 2009)

I'll be buying an iPod Touch and I want to use WIFI to access email and web sites. I've been trying to find out how common free hotspots are in Canada and so far, it isn't looking good. Most seem to require payment. Is anyone aware of where I can find a good list of free hotspots?

Has anyone had any experience using Boingo? A subscription costs about US$8/month and supposedly gives you access to thousands of hotspots all over the world that would otherwise charge you.


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## Britnell (Jan 4, 2002)

There are few free hotspots. Williams Coffee Pub is usually free, and a number of bars I know are free, but require a password.

If you have a GPS, check out POIfriend.com: Free GPS POI (Point of Interest) Downloads, Maps & Community - Garmin TomTom and do a search for hotspots


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## fjnmusic (Oct 29, 2006)

There are tons of Wi-Fi hotspots, Most of them are locked, but you'd be surprised how many you can tap into. Like a mosquito looking for a hemoglobin fix. Public libraries are a good source as well.


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## edmondk (Jul 14, 2008)

I supposed it mostly depends on how urban the area is that you live in. However, I have found that free wireless is harder to come by up here in Canada then when I lived down in Atlanta and I would think that in more of the major US cities it would be easier to find free spots.
That being said, when I have been in Toronto I have usually been able to find hotspots when I have needed them. The best thing to do would be to get a Starbucks card for $5 then get the Coffee Shop app. if you register your starbucks card on Starbucks.com you can get 2 free hours of wifi everyday at a starbucks. The coffee shop app will log you in automatically when you launch it, which is handy because other wise you have to type in a 16 digit code from the card whenever you go to starbucks.


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

imageinnovation said:


> I'll be buying an iPod Touch and I want to use WIFI to access email and web sites. I've been trying to find out how common free hotspots are in Canada and so far, it isn't looking good. Most seem to require payment. Is anyone aware of where I can find a good list of free hotspots?
> 
> Has anyone had any experience using Boingo? A subscription costs about US$8/month and supposedly gives you access to thousands of hotspots all over the world that would otherwise charge you.


Canada is a pretty big place 

In Regina, there is free wifi covering the downtown area. It's not the speediest, but it's there.

The two major internet providers here have gone to wireless modems that force security so finding open wireless in residential areas is fading out. 

A google for free wifi canada reveals a ton of lists.

My grandson carries his iPod Touch with him while riding in the car and makes a note of any free (or not secure) wireless that he finds.

Take care, Margaret


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## Funkynassau (Apr 13, 2008)

I live near Hanover, ON and there is free WIFI at Coffee Culture restaurant and at the Queen's Bush pub on the main drag. I've used it at Coffee Culture and it works just fine.

Downtown Toronto has a ton of WIFI spots, almost on every corner.

Funkynassau


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

free wifi finder canada - Google Search

Some sources are better than others, but there is a ton of free wifi in Canada, with a lot of people marking out sites and posting about them.

Lots of companies and individuals do not encrypt their networks--sometimes because they want them to be shared, sometimes because they don't figure out how to prevent sharing.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

Canada is behind the curve when it comes to WiFi. There are a few places that have free WiFi: as was mentioned, Williams Coffee Pub, some of the Coffee Culture and Second Cup locations, a few MacDonalds, and some public libraries. Downtown Hamilton has public WiFi, which has been free for the past year or so, but it is slow, and reception is awful since they put the transmitters on the stop lights in the middle of the intersections - so they don't work well when it comes to practical places to sit and use WiFi. Outside of airports and stuff, I don't think Boingo has very much coverage in Canada, though it may be better in places like downtown Toronto. Some areas serviced by Cogeco have pay WiFi, but I don't think their coverage is good.

The best service is in downtown Goderich - they are really doing things in that town, like real High Speed Internet via Fiber Optic, and their entire downtown area is well served by WiFi. Another place is Chatham, and though it is a pay service, TekSavvy offers WiMax which covers the whole county of Chatham-Kent.

I wouldn't go out and buy something WiFi thinking that there will be practical places to connect to all over the place. Coverage is sketchy at best, and the only way I found a few free HotSpots was by doing some drive-by with KisMac - which is how I found the MacDonalds down the road from here, as well as the HotSpot that used to operate up where my girlfriend works, and the Cogeco service that was at my old place of employment.


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## Amiga2000HD (Jan 23, 2007)

Some good music and web access by wifi on an iPod Touch plus a big ice cream cone while on the beach in Goderich sounds really nice right now. It's been a few years since I've been out that way.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

fjnmusic said:


> There are tons of Wi-Fi hotspots, Most of them are locked, but you'd be surprised how many you can tap into. Like a mosquito looking for a hemoglobin fix. Public libraries are a good source as well.


Don't overlook hotels and motels along with electronics stores, drug stores that sell computers and cameras and many coffee shops too. I even use the chiropractor's wifi located next door to a pub. Lots of public buildings like pools and gyms too, and just about any mall will have at least one open system.

You will be surprised just how many systems are unlocked out there.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

^^^
We went there last summer for a vacation, and it was excellent. We didn't want any craziness or crowds on vacation, we just needed to get out of the Armpit of Ontario. We did lots of wandering around in the mornings, then hit the beach in the afternoon, plus the concert on Thursday, and driving around the square over and over again. We had the best possible weather, not even a hint of rain except on our last day, when it sputtered a little.

They were working hard all over to put in the new Fiber Optic system, where every house will have access to it. I think that they are positioning themselves, and really, I think it would be an excellent place to set up a computer programming business, especially with the possibilities of real High Speed. They also did their HotSpot right, with coverage for the whole downtown area, so one can have a coffee and WiFi, or sit across the street under the trees in front of the courthouse, or wherever.

Places like Hamilton are just so retrograde. We are stuck with fake High Speed, and in my neighbourhood, it is completely unavailable because of a feud over who owns the poles. And even if they did have High Speed, it would be pathetically slow like Sympatico, that is capped, throttled and made completely useless. No company that requires computing or being online or having telecommuting would bother to locate in this dump, it would cost them far too much to set all their employees up with satellite internet. The only advantage is that it is only a 45 minute drive to the nearest computer shop in Toronto... And the poor WiFi coverage is an example, since only a small handful of libraries even have it, though they keep promising more. WiFi is also hampered because the high speed service is so slow, that it is a rare day that I can even use a quarter of the capability of "B" speeds, even if they are using "G" or "N"...

The College has high speed - swank high speed they bring in themselves, but they don't have WiFi...


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

I forgot about the Safeway store! I don't know if they all do, but the Safeway that I shop at has free wifi and it seems to be high-speed. It doesn't work in the back of the store, but it does reach as far as the benches out in the mall in front of the store.

Most of these responses assume that the OP is in the greater Toronto area. Most of Canada - which the original poster asked about  - is not anywhere near Toronto. A lot of the coffee outlets that have been mentioned don't exist in our part of Canada. Just saying.

Margaret


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

To the OP: it would have been helpful if you had mentioned your location.

I just got a similar question to this in my email this morning, and so I'll throw in some of the places I know of here in Victoria:

*Every Serious Coffee
*Every Starbucks*
*Most hotel lobbies
*the Public Library
*the Legion Halls
*most Senior or Community Centres
*the entire downtown of Langford

*Starbucks requires the purchase of a "refillable cash card" to obtain your 2 free hours/day, but even when the card is used up the number on it will continue to work indefinitely.


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## imageinnovation (Jun 10, 2009)

Thanks for all the responses. I guess my question was a bit too open ended. I'm in central Ontario and I know there are a few places around here with WIFI, but most require you to be a customer/client. However, I'm more concerned about getting access to WIFI when I'm travelling, which is why I asked about hotspots across Canada. I'm mainly interested in Ontario and Alberta right now, but I also hope to travel to BC and the Maritimes in the next year or so. 

Also, by "free" I didn't mean open or unsecured networks, which I think I would only use very cautiously. I really meant passworded networks that you can use without being charged a fee or with a small fee, like the Starbucks example described above. 

Anyway, all these comments have been very useful. Thanks


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## imageinnovation (Jun 10, 2009)

chas_m said:


> To the OP: it would have been helpful if you had mentioned your location.
> 
> I just got a similar question to this in my email this morning, and so I'll throw in some of the places I know of here in Victoria:
> 
> ...


Yes, I should have mentioned my location -- southcentral Ontario. 

I'm curious about the hotel lobbies. Don't you generally have to be a guest to use their networks? Or can you walk in off the street into their lobby and get on their net?

Victoria sounds like it's way ahead of my community in the other places they've put WIFI. I don't think there's anything like that amount of coverage in my town.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

imageinnovation said:


> I'm curious about the hotel lobbies. Don't you generally have to be a guest to use their networks? Or can you walk in off the street into their lobby and get on their net?


Depends. The more corporate ones tend to have a simple password that only guests receive. Some are just wide open.



> Victoria sounds like it's way ahead of my community in the other places they've put WIFI. I don't think there's anything like that amount of coverage in my town.


Being a provincial capital has its advantages.


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## imageinnovation (Jun 10, 2009)

"Originally Posted by imageinnovation
I'm curious about the hotel lobbies. Don't you generally have to be a guest to use their networks? Or can you walk in off the street into their lobby and get on their net? 

Depends. The more corporate ones tend to have a simple password that only guests receive. Some are just wide open."


I guess I'll have to wander into a few lobbies when I get my Touch and see what happens.


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