Imagine the situation. You need to connect to the Internet immediately, but your tariff plan or balance on the account at this time does not allow this. But you really need Wi-Fi, or you’ll be stuck for a long time, at any stop in western Tokyo or somewhere else if you cannot contact your brother, who is supposed to be picking you up in the evening. And so that not someone who did not stay at night at a stop in a foreign city, we’ll tell you how to find free Wi-Fi when you travel abroad.
Today it’s hard to imagine a person who does not have a device with Internet access. In everyday life, and even more so when traveling to another country, a smartphone, tablet or laptop is a guide, a guide, and a means of communication with family and friends. Therefore, it will be useful for any traveler to know how to connect to Wi-Fi abroad.
How to find free Wi-Fi?
Find McDonald’s, Apple Store or Starbucks
How to find free Wi-Fi on a trip to some places there is always free Wi-Fi, no matter in which part of the world you are. The frequent source of free Wi-Fi is, of course, McDonald’s. It rescued people from difficult situations. Sometimes people are in such a hurry that they do not even go inside, just catch Wi-Fi near the entrance, find out the necessary information and run further on their business.
If the McDonald’s is not around, then maybe you have an Apple Store or Starbucks nearby, where you can also connect to free Wi-Fi.
Be aware or different places with free Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi and searching for free. There are not all places with free Wi-Fi at most give access to it for free. Many restaurants, cafes and coffee shops offer “free” Wi-Fi for visitors, but usually, require that they have something bought before they give a password from their network.
Truly free Wi-Fi can be found at public transport stops (airports, train stations, bus stations) and in places where tourists are likely to be present, such as museums and other popular attractions. In public places: libraries, parks, city squares. Shopping centers and large department stores also often have free Wi-Fi, as well as bookstores and hotel lobbies.
Use applications to search for Wi-Fi
Applications for finding free Wi-Fi. The main problem with finding free Wi-Fi access points is that it usually requires at least some kind of Internet connection. So, when you travel abroad, you need to first find free Wi-Fi in order to find other Wi-Fi points, which is not very convenient. But I know at least two applications that work well, including offline, which is very important.
Recently, a large number of applications for smartphones are being developed, which are able to tell how to look for Wi-Fi in Europe.
The most popular are WeFi and WiFi Map Pro-free apps that provide a list of hot spots around the world, passwords and travel tips (available for Android and iPhone devices).
Such applications and their analogs are convenient in that they can load a card with free access points for Wi-Fi offline.
- Instabridge (freeware, for Android and iOS) is an application, a password exchange community that automatically connects to the nearest available Wi-Fi network. It has more than 3 million access points in the database, which is like a lot, but in fact, it is not so when you travel abroad.
- WeFi Pro (free, for Android) – this application for free Wi-Fi connection has a base of more than 170 million hotspots, and therefore, its international presence is much greater.
Just ask! Where is free Wi-Fi?
If you are in a restaurant, cafe or in any other place that does not advertise free Wi-Fi, then turn on your phone’s Wi-Fi and look at the list of access points. Most likely, you will see a password-protected network with the name of the place in which you are sitting. Try to ask your waiter or seller a password from Wi-Fi. In many places, they are happy to share their Wi-Fi for free, especially if you play a tourist card.
Hotel
Many airports in Europe are not yet ready to provide passengers with free access to the Internet. Only in about 30% of them, you can connect to Wi-Fi for free without time limits. The most part allows you to use the Internet for a short period (15-30 minutes), and then you need to register and pay for the subsequent use.
Another place where you can find Wi-Fi abroad without too much effort is the hotel. Most hotels in Europe have a free Wi-Fi zone. However, in some of them in order to go into the network or check mail, you have to leave the room in the lobby.
The special site hotelwifitest.com will facilitate the use of Wi-Fi abroad. On this service, you can find out which of the hotels in the selected city has a free Wi-Fi, check its speed and quality.
According to the experts of this project, the speed and availability of the network within the number three leaders among the European capitals were led by Stockholm, followed by Budapest and Dublin.
And here are a few more resources on which you can see a list of hotels with free Internet access:
- speedspot.org
- hotelbook.com/free-wifi-europe
Public places
Free Wi-Fi hotspots in Europe can also be found in public places or simply on the street. Libraries, parks, squares, shopping centers – more cities are trying to ensure that residents and tourists do not have problems with access to the Internet. Therefore, before the trip, try to search for information about free Wi-Fi zones in the cities that are going to visit. For capitals and popular tourist places, you can find online maps that contain information on hotspots in public places on the site wificafespots.com you have the opportunity to see which cafe has free Wi-Fi in 115 countries.
The same applies to the smartphone can function without connecting to the Internet and without GPS, but, unfortunately, it is paid.
That’s it; I wish everyone always find the fastest and free Wi-Fi anywhere in the world!
