The Ultimate Guide to Finding Free Wi-Fi

I know what you are thinking: you already use your neighbor’s Wi-Fi network for free, so why should you waste your precious time reading this article?

Believe it or not, sometime you will have to leave your home, and this means that you will get out of your neighbors’ free Wi-Fi range. Sure, you could use an antenna cable and a dedicated SMA adapter, but that would only help you extend the range to 50…100 feet – more than enough when you are relaxing in your yard, if you ask me.

Seriously speaking, where can you find free Wi-Fi when you are away from home, and even in a foreign country?

Begin by exploring malls and hypermarkets; often times, you can get access to free internet in a mall, especially near the café area, where the owners provide free Wi-Fi because they hope that it will make you stay more, and thus purchase more of their beverages.

Starbucks and McDonald’s are also known for providing free Wi-Fi, and since both franchises are present in most countries, you shouldn’t have a hard time locating one.

However, if you can’t find one of these in the area, try to locate a store that sells electronics. Even if you can’t connect to their Wi-Fi networks for free, chances are that they’ve got an Internet-connected device that can be accessed to check your email or send your mom a virtual postcard.

What about airports and train stations? I thought you’d never ask! Most airports provide free Wi-Fi indeed. But while this is true for most airports, some of the underdeveloped countries don’t offer Internet access in train stations, bus stations, etc.

If you live in a hotel, you may have access to free internet and not know it. Just ask the receptionist and see what she has to say about it.

Some people provide Wi-Fi discovery apps, but most of them have a problem: they need internet access to locate the free Wi-Fi connections, which kind of defeats the actual app purpose: finding free Internet when you can’t access it!

Still, there’s a useful app called Instabridge (available for both Android and iOS) which operates using crowdsourcing and is able to automatically connect to the free Wi-Fi networks in the area. And with over three million hotspots in its database, chances are you won’t have problems locating a free network pretty much anywhere in the world.

Sometimes all you need to do to get access to free Wi-Fi is to… ask for it! Open your phone or tablet, and then search for nearby hotspots. If you are having lunch in the “Sausage King & Queen” restaurant and you spot a network named “sausage” or so, you should ask an employee what is the network password. Often times they will give you the password, because you are their client.

If everything fails, it’s time to purchase Internet access. But don’t let the “paid” word cloud your judgment, making you think that you’ve also purchased secure Internet access. Often times, paid Internet access packages can be as vulnerable as their free alternatives. Only use public hotspots to do things that don’t imply transferring sensitive data (credit card info, passwords, etc) or learn how to stay secure even while using public Wi-Fi.

Recent Trends in Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality makes use of technology to implement various systems that complement the real world. Since its beginning, many VR applications have been created, and many people have already experienced them in amusement parks and other similar resorts. But VR is not applied only in the gaming or the entertainment industry, but also in medical and military experiments.

Virtual Reality has started to gain popularity in the 90s, and many movies and games make use of it these days. Although there have not been many recent developments in the virtual reality industry, people become more and more aware of it and many products utilize it, be them computer games, movies or various input devices.

VR has exploded since the introduction of the virtual worlds that can be found in some of today’s hottest games and on the Internet. People enjoy spending time in virtual worlds, as they can create replicas of their lives in a parallel, virtual reality world. Second Life is the most popular game in this category.

But what are the experts and analysts thinking about the future of VR in 2016?

First of all, 2016 is regarded as the year when VR will be used by many more people. Although many of them may have heard about virtual reality, its value in the medicine and military purposes are less understood and known by ordinary citizens.

Everyone agrees that VR will also become much more accessible in the near future, because the number of specialized devices will grow exponentially. New York Times did an experiment last year, offering its subscribers about 1 million Cardboard VR units, and this was just the beginning, according to their team. Another similar example is the more recent free distribution of the Star War themed Cardboard headsets.

The Virtual Reality market is expected to grow a lot. We’ve only seen a few VR movies so far, but the industry leaders have confirmed that they will continue to invest large amounts of money into this technology. As a direct consequence, people will become more aware of VR, and the hardware industry will grow even bigger.

Right now people enjoy a seated virtual reality experience. As more and more people learn about VR, its interactive components are going to be developed even further. Users will no longer be passive observers; they will be directly involved, being a part of the virtual reality scenes.

Virtual reality apps are the new kid on the block when it comes to VR. These are software programs which address consumers’ particular needs. Right now people can choose from several virtual reality apps, including games or healthcare related programs. These apps run on mainstream platforms like Mac, PC, iPhone, Android, and so on.

Virtual reality will surely prove to be a useful tool for hotels and travel agents as well. Potential clients will use virtual reality applications, instead of watching presentation movies or simple photos of the places that they intend to visit. Beach resorts, luxurious hotels and far-off destinations will be easily explored using virtual reality applications.

Virtual reality will also be used for art and architecture. The developers will be able to create all sorts of prototypes without needing any building space and construction materials.