Wi-fi hotspots are popping up all over the country. It’s common to find hotspots in a coffee shop or at a library, but at a grocery store? Yes, you can shop at Safeway and browse your email all at the same time. Hotels, libraries, and restaurants are some of the best places to find hotspots.

Hotels

This is a favorite upgrade that hotels love to offer their visitors. Not every location offers internet access for free, and depending on the hotel you could be charged up to $9.99 for 24 hours. The hotels that do offer free wi-fi will usually give you a code when you check in. If they don’t, you can call the front desk and ask for it.

Restaurants and Coffee Shops

Fast food restaurants and coffee shops are the most popular places to find wi-fi. They’ll usually offer it to their customers for free, handing over the password when you order your food and drinks. Some restaurants won’t even require a password.

Chains that offer free wi-fi include:

• McDonalds
• Starbucks
• Del Taco
• Jack in the Box
• Barnes and Noble Bookstores (They usually have a coffee shop located inside.)

Libraries

One of the best resources you can find a library is free internet. This is also an excellent place to find a wi-fi hotspot. Many students and professionals alike will visit libraries to relax or to do research, and having available wi-fi is simply good business sense. You can get the password at any of the desks, and there usually isn’t a fee.

With more and more people carrying around internet-ready devices, many businesses are viewing hotspots as a valuable commodity. They simply don’t want to run the risk losing business to a competitor that offers wi-fi if they don’t. And with the availability of hotspot locator apps for smart phones, having hotspots set up in a small business is becoming more and more commonplace.

Wireless hot spots have become the norm for technology savvy consumers who take their computer with them in the palms of their hands. The new Android technology that is available on cell phones has turned phones into mini computers, and laptops have become even more portable with the advent of net books and lighter-weight designs. Many businesses have now installed wireless hot spots to draw customers back into the stores instead of doing all their shopping at home. Restaurants and hotels have done this for quite a while, trying to draw in traveling professionals to their establishments.

A new problem has arisen, though, for major booksellers who have established their business on people coming into the store to enjoy the ambiance, read, and shop. The increasing popularity of e-readers has taken people out of the bookstores to a greater deal and given them access to a portable library. Barnes & Noble Booksellers has answered this problem by teaming up with AT&T to create a Wi-Fi hot spot within the store.

Customers can still download books wherever they are, as long as they have access to the AT&T network, but when they are in the store, they have access to over one million free books that they can download on the e-Nook. This has been a sure way to draw customers back into the store and to keep sales on track.

There are several free e-books available outside of the store to be downloaded, but the primary crux is available in the store. Readers are now coming back in to enjoy a cup of coffee and a good read. As more and more print items are digitized and consumers can have greater freedom to shop wherever they are, retailers will have to be more creative to draw people back into the stores. The Wi-Fi hot spot looks to be one of the best ways to start to adapt to a more digital age.

Just what exactly is a hotspot? We’ve all probably heard or seen the term and many of us may wonder just what it is and how can we use them.

A hotspot is simply a location that provides access to the Internet via a wireless connection. This connection is enabled through the use of a router that is connected to an Internet service provider. Many hotspots are found in public establishments such as cafes and coffee houses.

In 1993, the idea of public accessed networks was introduced at the NetWorld+Interop convention. While the actual term “hotspot” was not used, the idea was presented. In 2000 — considered to be the height of the dot-com era — a lot of companies were working with the idea that wireless networks could become the payphones of the Internet. Originally, the thought was that this access would be paid for. Hotspot locations continued to grow in number during the subsequent years. Hotspots can now even be found in areas such as campgrounds and RV parks.

Users can access these hotspots on laptops, Wi-Fi-enabled phones, or other devices that can use wireless technology. Commercial, or paid hotspots, require that a user login and pay using credit cards, PayPal, or some other payment methods before access is granted. The main players that charge for access are airports and hotels.

Free hotspots are generally open to the public, with the router providing access having their authentication or other security options turned off. All users within the router’s range can get Internet access. Libraries, coffee shops, and supermarkets are just a few of the places that may provide their clients with hotspot services.

There are a few security concerns with hotspots. Because some of them do not secure transmission of data, packet sniffers can see Internet traffic on these networks. Overall though, hotspots make life more convenient for Internet users around the globe.