Verizon and AT&T to push wifi hotspots

[Seadog]

Two items today. Both AT&T and Verizon are planning to open up their wifi hotspots to their customers to encourage phone users to leave overloaded 3G and 4G networks for their browsing.

Also, they are both joining a consortium that will open all wifi networks to any users from any competitive company. The project will allow seamless transition from 3G to wifi where available. It will also not require the need to use various passwords to log on. The idea is that the phone, tablet would connect automatically, but retain a high level of security. We may see a series of area wifi spots that will greatly reduce the dependency on cell towers.

 

[CaptKirk]

I'm starting to see more and more free WiFi hot spots spurting up everywhere. Restaurants, Coffee Shops and Grocery Stores are starting to offer this. I even got free WiFi Access at a Cal Trans Rest stop near Turlock last month and I understand the City of Sacramento is trying to set up a public WiFi network in Old Town Sacramento. I strongly believe free WiFi will be set up everywhere within 5yrs and I think Apple should get most credit for this....

 

[henry2]

a lot of the bigger citys out here in Ca are setting areas of free Wifi for use in the areas..that why i held off on getting a 3g set up for useing the free wifi as i need in diff places..

 

[figmo10]

I don't get to public hotspots all that often but when I do I now turn off the wifi and stick with 3G. Maybe a superabundance of caution, but then again I don't really know who is running that data service.

 

[Diane B]

Libraries almost everywhere have wifi, many many fast food places and coffee shops. Even my small town here in western NC has free wifi on our DT square. I had no problem finding it with my Touch and so opted to buy only the 64GB Ipad. When traveling we have the option of using the mobile hotspot on my husband's Palm Pre Plus on Verizon. Oh, Barnes and Noble, probably Borders if you have one. There is a free wifi finding app and other free wifi URLs on line to find free wifi spots wherever you are

 

[pallentx]

This is good news. If ATT and Verizon get behind something, they should be able to get it done. I havent had much luck with finding free wifi where I live.

 

[Diane B]

This is good news. If ATT and Verizon get behind something, they should be able to get it done. I havent had much luck with finding free wifi where I live.

I know it's hard in some places. When we travel I've always had to scrounge to hook my laptop unless motel has it (most do now). Google for free wifi spots. There are several good lists if places in US but they are mostly dependent on people telling them what to add. There's even a free app for free wifi spots.

 

[Itzxdjx]

Yeah soon hopefully everywhere we go there will be a connection! Tmobile has some decent hotspots also.

 

[battie]

I learned a valuable lesson recently when Verizon sold me my Palm Pre with free mobile hot spot. The speed on it sucks and only provides minimal IPad capabilities. Hopefully the MiFi will better support IPad applications!

 

[Wakawaka]

Wifi will lead the way in metro and townships. They can handle a larger band load as there are for example, 200 access points in a single cell towers range.

However there is a problem..Internet can only hold so much bandwidth at a single moment. With streaming music and video these days, major changes are under way. This is in a good direction to balance out demand with supply. Until improvements can be made.

 

[Diane B]

I learned a valuable lesson recently when Verizon sold me my Palm Pre with free mobile hot spot. The speed on it sucks and only provides minimal IPad capabilities. Hopefully the MiFi will better support IPad applications!

We've been using the PPP free mobile hot spot since May. Its only as good as your phone's signal IMO. If you don't have a strong signal, better a 3G signal, then it will be slow. The phone is the same. I can't imagine that the Mifi would be different. But where we live AT&T's signal is out of 3G also so for both we would have to be in the right place. When we have a good signal we can use the Ipad for everything we've tried. I haven't tried streaming Netflix but Pandora streams, maps, Safari, mail and tho' a bit slower some places than wifi, its not usually slower than, for instance, Barnes & Noble's instore wifi ( ours locally is slow and its AT&T powered). I'd be interested to know from anyone that has a Mifi from Verizon if its faster than phones' hot spots.

 

[Diane B]

A little additional. Yesterday we were just south of Charlotte, NC where one would expect good Verizon coverage. We had full bars but no 3G and tried to use Maps. Just wouldn't work. As soon as we drove north further into the city and picked up 3G Maps for directions just loaded quickly and even popped up 'current location' accurately as we drove. So, it seems to me that 3G covereage is needed for some if not most decent use with the Ipad and a moble hotspot on Verizon but wonder about Mifi still.

Diane

 

[epb]

AT&T has long let customers from home internet and wireless data piggyback on their wi-fi service. More options are always nice, though.

 

[Sonny Burnett]

Check this out : Free WiFi Finder

 

[wrecklass]

However there is a problem..Internet can only hold so much bandwidth at a single moment. With streaming music and video these days, major changes are under way. This is in a good direction to balance out demand with supply. Until improvements can be made.

Yes, Comcast, Cox and others have had bandwidth caps for years, but most people haven't known about it yet. As we start using more of it for streaming media they are all feeling the pinch. Until more infrastructure can be built, things are going to get worse. Meaning bandwidth caps will get smaller as the average user takes more bandwidth.

And things will get more expensive as tiered pricing becomes the norm. Much more expensive.