One other level of classification that is missing here is "Free, but requires a local phone number."
Oftentimes, the operator will send you an SMS with a one-time password, but they require a local phone number to send it to. Or they use your phone number to de-anonymize you, so it must be a phone number from their local country.
When traveling, this makes these "open" access points effectively useless, unless you decide to spoof another person's MAC address.
A quick burner phone purchase when traveling could help, no? I'm not sure how common they are in other countries but in the US prepaid disposable phones are available at almost any convenience store.
This kind of map actually needs some minimal classification. There are actually flavors between free and open wifi.
For instance, how would you categorize a wifi in an airport which needs you to fill a random form/survey (not paying anything) to access the Internet? Same question if it is then limited to something like 10 minutes (and you then need to pay, or just trick on your macaddr/dhcpname/...)? In these case, you can actually access the Internet for free, but they are extremely annoying.
Note: these kind of wireless network are actually very common in some places
You are right. I already removed the xfinity hotspots. We'll be adding a feedback form into our web + mobile app so non-free or low quality APs can be removed.
Looks really great - love the web view of WiFi density, and great to see more efforts in this space.
We've built something similar at OpenSignal. Our WifiMapper [1] app on iOS and Android has a database of over 2 million networks, and we're also crowdsourcing a database of passwords and connection speeds.
This also explains why I'm so frustrated with WiFi abroad: I probably got spoiled here. Here we can find WiFi in the most unlikely of places (e.g. supermarkets, buses); in Germany you can find one in a coffee shop if you're lucky, but that one is probably paid as well, just like all the other ones.
What also hinders open Wi-Fi adoption in Germany is a law called "Störerhaftung", which basically states that the owner of the Wi-Fi is liable for all damages that users of his Wi-Fi do, for example filesharing, hacking, whatever. Keeping track of all users is not an option that all free Wi-Fi operators have. I'm sure other countries have similar laws. Do The Netherlands not have such a law?
I just came across Airfy which apparently gets around this by tunnelling (I assume) all traffic and taking all legal liability and risk. I've also read that this Stoererhaftung law is set to change this year, specifically to allow things like free WiFi in businesses.
We're starting to see similar things in the UK. All our local bus companies now provide WiFi (and one has USB charging ports at every seat as well), and most large chain shops will provide WiFi. I never really use them myself as I have a pretty good data call on my mobile plan, but I know of some people who've dropped data entirely because they can just use WiFi.
The Cloud is particularly awkward as sometimes it's free, but not always. I assume in the places it's free the people running the hotspot are paying rather than the end user.
A point of constructive criticism is that there are some inconsistencies in how large-scale public WiFi seems to be handled. For instance, in Ann Arbor, MI every University of Michigan building AFAIK has free public WiFi (as well as a private network for university affiliates). However, I only see a few listings for the "MGuest" network in the area. Is there a better feasible way of handling this?
I'd probably go for some sort of area marking with a rough estimation of AP range, allowing wide area networks made up of many APs to show as one chunk of coverage.
A problem with wigle (and maybe others) it it's showing every portable mobile wifi hotspot which are extremely common in Japan. If you're trying to find all the places someone who owns that hotspot has been maybe that's useful info but usually it's not that useful. Zoomed in to the maximum level there's so many SSIDs it's unreadable.
They basically provide the same thing but as a crowdsourced list of truly free hotspots and you can connect to them through the app. Only available as a native app though...
This isn't working for me, after I zoom in past a certain level, all the blue dots just disappear. Clicking a city name search result zooms in so far that the map goes blank (presumably it's past the available tile sets) Tested in Safari and Chrome
The website is light on details, but it's probably a commercial WiFi-sharing company, like a commercial version of Freifunk (a mostly german initiative where people openly share their WiFi, and meshing is used to extend coverage when a direct internet uplink isn't available), with the interesting twist that they're using an app instead of a custom WiFi access point firmware.
I wonder if they route traffic through open Wifis if any are in the vicinity and then charge for it.
I've seen some I added myself with Instabridge (another WiFi sharing app), the location of some of the networks are wrong because the app messed up sometimes (my school network is also located at my house for example).
Hmmm I get the feeling that one of your 'sources' for the db comes from the users who have already installed your app. Just a tin-foil-hat hunch based on the density of nodes in certain areas (read: certain routes). Too bad 60%+ are HP-Printers or vmguests...either way it'd pay to clean all that up if you're promoting that they're free/open hotspots.
I don't care where I can find free WiFi. Nowadays, every damn coffee shop, hotel or mall has free Wifi—I care about fast and free WiFi with speedy up- & downloads and low latency. Well executed implementation though.
I didn't downvote you, but your post did sound rude to me. Finding free wifi may be easy where you live, but it's not the "wrong question" for many others.
I live in an European country, and while the bigger cities are well served, smaller towns and rural areas often only have one place, if that. If I didn't have a Fonera account, I'd be spending a lot of time looking for hotspots.
I don't care about fast nearly as much as I care about it not having ridiculous hoops I have to jump through to get connected. I just want to connect to the network and be on without having to first have my requests intercepted by their system until I register or click "connect". I suppose maybe this falls under "well executed implementation", but I think it deserves to be mentioned specifically.
They are not the same.
For example, KPN in the Netherlands is not free, and xfinity wifi in the USA is not free.
For this to have any sort of credibility, there needs to be a discriminant filter mapping truly free vs open hotspots.
For me this current map is too noisy to be of value. Try using it for free internet, and you too may run into disillusionment and frustration.