Throughout this third edition of Wireless Home Networking For topic, we focus (no big surprise here) on wireless networks in your home. But wireless networks aren’t just for the house. For example, many businesses have adopted wireless networking technologies to provide network connections for workers roaming throughout offices, conference rooms, and factory floors. Just about every big university has built a campuswide wireless network that enables students, faculty, and staff members to connect to the campus network (and the Internet) from just about every nook and cranny on campus. Entire cities are beginning to go "unwired," by setting up metropolitan Wi-Fi networks that provide free or cheap wireless access to residents, workers, and visitors.
These networks are useful if you happen to work or teach or study at a business or school that has a wireless network. But you don’t need to be in one of these locations to take advantage and get online wirelessly. You can find tens of thousands of hot spots (places where you can log on to publicly available Wi-Fi networks) across the United States (and the world, for that matter).
In this topic, we give you some background on public hot spots, and we discuss the various types of free and for-pay networks out there. We also talk about tools you can use to find a hot spot when you’re out of the house. Finally, we talk in some detail about some of the bigger for-pay hot spot providers out there and how you can get on their networks. The key thing to remember about hot spots — the really cool part — is that they use 802.11 wireless networking equipment. In other words, they use the same kind of equipment you use in your wireless home network, so you can take basically any wireless device in your home (as long as it’s portable enough to lug around) and use it to connect to a wireless hot spot.
Discovering Public Hot Spots
A wide variety of people and organizations have begun to provide hot spot services, ranging from individuals who have opened up their wireless home networks for neighbors and strangers to multinational telecommunications service providers who have built nationwide or worldwide hot spot networks containing many hundreds of access points. There’s an in-between here, too. Perhaps the prototypical hot spot operator is the hip (or wannabe hip) urban cafe with a digital subscriber line and an access point (AP) in the corner. In Figure 16-1, you can see a sample configuration of APs in an airport concourse, which is a popular location for hot spots because of travelers’ downtime when waiting for flights (or the everlasting gobstopper that is the TSA line).
Many hot spots now use 802.11g, though it’s not uncommon to still run across 802.11b hot spots. As we write, no hot spots that we know of are using 802.11n (though we’re sure a cafe or two somewhere in the world have upgraded). The key thing to keep in mind is that if you have an 802.11b, g, or n network adapter in your laptop or other device, you should be able to connect. Note: If your laptop or handheld computer has an 802.11a-only network adapter, you can’t connect to the vast majority of hot spots (we’ve never seen an 802.11a hot spot). Luckily, most folks who have 802.11a in their laptops have it in the form of a dual-band 802.11a/b/g network adapter, so they won’t have problems connecting to an 802.11g hot spot.
Figure 16-1:
An airport concourse is a perfect location for a hot spot, using several access points.
Of the myriad reasons that someone (or some company or organization) may open up a hot spot location, the most common we’ve seen include
In a spirit of community-mindedness: Many hot spot operators strongly believe in the concept of a connected Internet community, and they want to do their part by providing a hop-on point for friends, neighbors, and even passers-by to get online. For an example of this, check out a service provider called Fon (www.fon.com/en/), which has built a worldwide network of hot spots around this principle.
As a municipal amenity: Not only individuals want to create a connected community. Many towns, cities, and villages have begun exploring the possibility of building municipality-wide Wi-Fi networks. A cost is associated with this concept, of course, but they see this cost as being less than the benefit the community will receive. For example, many towns are looking at an openly accessible downtown Wi-Fi network as a way to attract business (and businesspeople) to downtown areas that have suffered because of businesses moving to the suburbs.
As a way to attract customers: Many cafes and other public gathering spots have installed free-to-use hot spots as a means of getting customers to come in the door and to stay longer. These businesses don’t charge for the hot spot usage, but they figure you will buy more double espressos if you can sit in a comfy chair and surf the Web while you’re drinking your coffee — in many cases, the business provides you with free access after you buy something.
As a business in and of itself: Most of the larger hot spot providers have made public wireless LAN access their core business. They see that hot spot access is a great tool for traveling businesspeople, mobile workers (such as sales folks and field techs), and the like. They’ve built their businesses based on the assumption that these people (or their companies) will pay for Wi-Fi access mainly because of the benefits that a broadband connection offers them compared with the dial-up modem connections they’ve been traditionally forced to use while on the road.
Another group of hot spot operators exists that we like to call the unwilling (or unwitting!) hot spot operators. These are often regular Joes who have built wireless home networks but haven’t activated any of the security measures we discuss in next topic.Their access points have been left wide open, and their neighbors (or people sitting on the park bench across the street) are taking advantage of this open access point to do some free Web surfing. Businesses, too, fall in this category: You would be shocked at how many businesses have unsecured access points — in many cases their IT people don’t even know about it. It’s all too common for a department to install its own access point (a rogue access point) without telling the IT staff that they’ve done so.
Going onto one of these not-really-a-hot-spot hot spots with your PC is an iffy legal proposition. On the one hand, if you’re sitting somewhere (such as in your home) and your computer automatically associates itself with someone’s unsecured AP, there’s no real harm. But the jury’s still out if you actively seek out and get onto someone’s unsecured access point that they haven’t explicitly set up as a hot spot. A small number of people have been arrested for theft of service, trespassing, and other charges for using someone’s Wi-Fi without permission. For the most part, these cases have revolved around something else — for example, someone lurking in front of a home or business with a laptop, or someone doing something illegal online over another person’s network.
We tend to divide hot spot operators into two categories: free networks, or freenets, which let anyone associate with the hot spot and get access without paying, and for-pay hot spots, which require users to set up an account and pay per use or a monthly (or yearly) fee for access. In this section, we talk a bit about these two types of operators, as well as a third type of operator who could fit into either category — the municipal/metro hot spot (or hot zone) operator.
Freenets and open access points
Most open access points are just that: individual access points that have been purposely (or mistakenly) left open for others to use. Because this is essentially an ad hoc network created by individuals, without any particular organization behind them, these open hot spots can be hard to find.In some areas, the owners of these hot spots are part of an organized group, which makes these hot spots easier to find. But in other locations, you need to do some Web research or use some special programs on your laptop or handheld computer to find an open access point.
The more organized groups of open access points — often called freenets — can be found in many larger cities. You can find a list of freenets at www. freenetworks.org. One of the biggest of these freenets is NYCwireless (www. nycwireless.net), a freenet serving Manhattan, Brooklyn, and other areas of the metro New York City region. Similar informal and grassroots networks exist in other big cities.
A growing number of businesses are offering free hot spot services as well. These range from entire shopping malls or even city blocks offering the service as an amenity to attract customers to restaurants and cafes which simply have an access point turned on out of neighborliness. A growing number of chain restaurants (such as Panera Bread) now offer free Wi-Fi hot spots in all their locations.
The folks at Wi-Fi Planet (one of our favorite sources of industry news) run the Web site Wi-FiHotSpotList.com (www.wi-fihotspotlist.com), which lets you search through its huge worldwide database of hot spots. You can search by city, state, or country. Wi-FiHotSpotList.com includes both free and for-pay hot spots, so it’s a comprehensive list.
Another great site is JiWire (www.jiwire.com). This site includes a comprehensive listing of free and for-pay hot spots, a great Wi-Fi news site (Wi-Fi Net News), and even special software you can download to help you locate hot spots without being online (just enter the address and you can search a locally stored database on your PC).
You have much more luck finding freenets and free public access points in urban areas. The nature of 802.11 technologies is such that most off-the-shelf access points reach a few hundred feet with any kind of throughput. So, when you get out of the city and into the suburbs and rural areas, chances are that an access point in someone’s house won’t reach any place you’re going to be — unless that house is right next door to a park or other public space. There’s just a density issue to overcome. In a city, where numerous access points may be on a single block, you have much better luck getting online.
Although these lists are good, none of them is truly comprehensive because many individuals who have open hot spots haven’t submitted them. If you’re looking for a hot spot and haven’t found it through one of these Web sites (or one of the many, many others online), try using one of the hot spot-finding programs we discuss in the upcoming section "Tools for Finding Hot Spots."
Some of the hot spots you find by using these tools, or some of the online Web pages that collect the reports of people using these tools, are indeed open, albeit unintentionally. We don’t get involved in a discussion of the morality or ethics of using these access points to get online. We would say, however, that some people think that locating and using an open access point is a bad thing, akin to stealing. So, if you’re going to hop on someone’s access point and you don’t know for sure that you’re meant to do that, you’re on your own.
For-pay services
Although we think that freenets are an awesome concept, if you have an essential business document to e-mail or a PowerPoint presentation that you absolutely have to download from the company server before you get to your meeting, you may not want to rely solely on the generosity of strangers. You may even be willing to pay to get a good, reliable, secure connection to the Internet for these business (or important personal) purposes.
Trust us: Someone out there is thinking about how he can help you with that need. In fact, a bunch of companies are focusing on exactly that business. It’s the nature of capitalism, right? The concluding sections of this topic talk about a few of these companies, but for now, we talk just in generalities. Commercial hot spot providers are mainly focused on the business market, providing access to mobile workers and road-warrior types. Many of these providers also offer relatively inexpensive plans (by using either prepaid calling cards or pay-by-the-use models) that you may use for nonbusiness connectivity (at least if you’re like us, and you can’t go a day without checking your mail or reading DBR — www.dukebasketballreport.com — even when you’re on vacation).
Unless you’re living in a city or town right near a hot spot provider, you probably don’t pick up a hot spot as your primary ISP, although in some places (often, smaller towns), ISPs are using Wi-Fi as the primary pipe to their customers’ homes. You can expect to find for-pay hot spot access in lots of areas outside the home. The most common include
Hotel lobbies and rooms Coffee shops and Internet cafes Airport gates and lounges Office building lobbies Train stations Meeting facilities
Basically, anywhere that folks armed with a laptop or a handheld computer may find themselves is a potential for a hot spot operator to build a business.
Pretty soon, you will even be able to (once again) plug into a Wi-Fi network on an airplane. A few years back, Boeing (you know, the folks who make jets) started a service called Connexion by Boeing, which was designed to provide Wi-Fi service to plane passengers (connecting them to a satellite Internet connection). Unfortunately, the costs of this service far outstripped the revenues gained from paying customers, and Boeing shut down the service. Well, JetBlue airlines launched (in December 2007) a free Wi-Fi service on selected flights, and a company called Aircell (www.aircell.com) has announced deals with both American Airlines and Virgin America to provide Wi-Fi services sometime in 2008. So stay tuned!
The single biggest issue that has been holding back the hot spot industry so far — keeping it a huge future trend rather than a use-it-anywhere-today reality — has been the issue of roaming. As of this writing, no single hot spot operator has anything close to ubiquitous coverage, though a few companies (such as Boingo) are making deals and getting closer. Instead, dozens of different hot spot operators, of different sizes, operate in competition with each other. As a user, perhaps a salesperson who’s traveling across town to several different clients in one day, you may run into hot spots from three or four providers — and need accounts from each of those providers.
Opening up to your neighbors
When we say, "opening up to your neighbors," we’re not talking about group therapy or wild hot tub parties. Wireless networks can carry through walls, across yards, and potentially around the neighborhood. Although wireless LANs were designed from the start for in-building use, the technology can be used in outdoor settings. For example, most college campuses are now wired with dozens or hundreds of wireless access points so that students, staff members, and professors can access the Internet from just about anywhere on campus. At UC San Diego, for example, freshmen are outfitted with wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs) to schedule classes, send e-mails and instant messages, and even find their friends at the student center (by using a locator program written by a student). Many folks are adapting this concept when it comes to access in their neighborhood by setting up community wireless LANs.
Some creators of these community LANs have taken the openness of the Internet to heart and have opened up their access points to any and all takers. In other areas, where broadband access is scarce, neighbors pool money to buy a T1 or other business-class, high-speed Internet line to share it wirelessly.
We think that both concepts make a great deal of sense, but we have one warning: Many Internet service providers (ISPs) don’t like the idea of you sharing your Internet connection without them getting a piece of the action. Beware that you may have to pay for a more expensive commercial ISP line. Before you share your Internet connection, check your ISP’s Terms of Service (TOS) or look at the listing of wireless-friendly ISPs on the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Web page (http://w2.eff.org/Infrastructure/Wireless_cellu-lar_radio/wireless_friendly_isp_list.html). The same is true of DSL, fiber-optic, and cable modem providers. Your usage agreement with the provider basically says that you won’t do this, and ISPs are starting to charge high-use fees to lines that have extranormaltraffic (that is, those lines that seem like a bunch of people on the broadband line are sharing the connection). One ISP that not only allows you to share your Internet connection by hot spot but also encourages it is Speakeasy (www.speakeasy.net).
This situation is much different than the cell phone industry, in which you can pretty much take your phone anywhere and make calls. The cell phone providers have elaborate roaming arrangements in place that allow them to bill each other (and in the end, bill you, the user) for these calls. Hot spot service providers haven’t reached this point. However, a couple of trends will help bring about some true hot spot roaming:
Hot spot aggregators, such as Boingo Wireless, are bringing together thousands of hot spots. Boingo (founded by Sky Dayton, who also founded the huge ISP EarthLink), doesn’t operate any of its own hot spots but instead has partnered with a huge range of other hot spot operators, from little mom-and-pop hot spot operators to big operations, such as Wayport. Boingo provides all the billing and account management for users. Thus, a Boingo customer can go to any Boingo partner’s hot spot, log on, and get online. (We talk about both Boingo and Wayport in more detail later in this topic.)
Cell phone companies are getting into the hot spot business. Led by T-Mobile (which has hot spots in almost every Starbucks coffee shop), cell phone companies are beginning to buy into the hot spot concept by setting up widespread networks of hot spots in their cellular phone territories. Although these networks aren’t yet ubiquitous — the coverage isn’t anywhere close to that of the cellular phone networks yet — they’re getting better by the day.
Besides improving coverage and solving the roaming problem, commercial hot spot providers are beginning to look at solutions that provide a higher grade of access — offering business class hot spot services, in other words. For example, they’re exploring special hot spot access points and related gear that can offer different tiers of speeds (you could pay more to get a faster connection) or that can offer secure connections to corporate networks (so that you can safely log on to the office network to get files).
In the following section, we talk about some of the most prominent commercial hot spot providers operating in the United States. We don’t spend any time talking about the smaller local hot spot providers out there, although many of them are hooking up with companies like Boingo. We’re not down on these smaller providers, but we’re aiming for the maximum bang for our writing buck. If you have a local favorite that meets your needs, go for it!
Understanding metro Wi-Fi
A final category of Wi-Fi hot spot is the metro-wide hot spot (or hot zone) that a number of cities have begun to launch. Cities as big as Philadelphia and San Francisco and as small as Addison, Texas (population, 14,166), have or are building metro Wi-Fi hot zones. (We’re sure that even smaller towns are doing the same thing, but are flying beneath the press radar!)
A metro-wide hot spot is a city-wide network of access points connected back to a broadband Internet connection. This network can be built for any number of reasons, including:
- As a network for the city/metro area government and public services, providing Internet access on the go for police, fire, public works, and other officials
- As a means of providing broadband access to residents in their homes (most common in areas where other broadband services are not widely available)
- As a public amenity to all (residents, visitors, and the like) for outdoor access to the Internet
- Finally, and most commonly, some combination of the preceding
Metro Wi-Fi networks can be free, subscription based (for a fee), or (as is often the case) a combination of the two. For example, many cities are proposing a free advertising-supported low-speed service and a higher speed service for a monthly service fee.
The main thing to keep in mind about metro-wide Wi-Fi networks is that although they work technically (meaning, it’s possible to build the network and run it successfully), the business case for such a network is often difficult to make. Metro Wi-Fi networks are expensive to build and expensive to operate, and a number of cities have bit off more than they could chew and scaled back their plans. The rise of high-speed broadband services from mobile phone companies (3G services) has also made the need for metro-wide Wi-Fi a bit less acute. In the long term, metro-wide Wi-Fi may never be as big or as prevalent as folks thought it would be a few years ago. Even Google has scaled back or slowed down their plans to build such networks for cities.
Using T-Mobile Hot Spots
The biggest hot spot provider in the United States — at least in terms of companies that run their own hot spots — is T-Mobile (http://hotspot.t-mobile.com). T-Mobile has hot spots up and running in more than 8,600 locations, primarily at Starbucks coffee shops throughout the United States. T-Mobile got into the hot spot business when it purchased the assets of a start-up company named Mobilestar, which made the initial deal with Starbucks to provide wireless access in these coffee shops.
T-Mobile has branched out beyond Starbucks and is also offering access in American Airlines Admirals Clubs in a few dozen airports as well as in a handful of other locations. T-Mobile charges $29.99 per month for unlimited national access if you sign up for a year and $39.99 monthly if you pay month to month. If you have a phone from T-Mobile, you can add the unlimited plan to your monthly bill for $19.99. You can also pay by the day (about $10) or by the hour ($6 per hour).
To try out T-Mobile hot spots for free, register on the T-Mobile site, at hotspot.t-mobile.com.
T-Mobile, like most hot spot companies, uses your Web browser to log you in and activate your service. You need to set the service set identifier (SSID) in your wireless network adapter’s client software to tmobile to get on the network. (Check out Part III of this topic for information on how to do that on your laptop or handheld.) If you’re using a Windows XP or Vista PC, you can also download a T-Mobile connection manager software client at http://client.hotspot.t-mobile.com/.
One cool feature of T-Mobile hot spots is that they have begun to support WPA and 802.1x security, so you can connect to them and feel safe and secure about your wireless connections.
Using Wayport Hot Spots
Another big commercial hot spot provider is Wayport (www.wayport.com). Wayport has made business travelers its number-one focus: The company has more than 7,000 hot spots around the world. Besides just offering Wi-Fi access, Wayport offers wired Internet access in many hotels and airports. (You see Wayport Laptop Lane kiosks in many airports when you scurry from your security strip search to the gate.)
Like T-Mobile, Wayport offers a range of service plans, ranging from one-time, pay-as-you-go plans using your credit card to prepaid calling card plans. You can sign up as an annual customer for $29.95 per month (if you sign up for a year’s worth of service; otherwise, it’s $49.95 for a month-to-month plan) to get unlimited access to any Wayport Wi-Fi location nationwide. Wayport also offers corporate plans, so consider bribing your IT manager if you travel often.
Like T-Mobile, Wayport uses your Web browser to authenticate you and collect your billing information. You need to set your SSID to Wayport_Access to get logged on to the access port.
Using Boingo Hot Spots
When Boingo (www.boingo.com) was launched in 2002, it made a big splash because it was the first company to bring a solution to the hot spot roaming issue. Boingo doesn’t own its own network of hot spots; instead, it has partnered with a number of other hot spot providers (including Wayport, which we discuss in the preceding section). Boingo provides you, the user, with some software, and gives you access to all the hot spots of its partners with a single account, a single bill, and not much hassle on your part.
As of this writing, Boingo has more than 100,000 hot spots up and running on its network. Like the other providers, Boingo offers monthly plans ($21.95 for unlimited access in North America, $39.00 for global access) as well as pay-as-you-go plans and corporate accounts. (Keep buttering up your IT manager!)
The big difference between Boingo and most other services is that Boingo uses its own software to control and manage the connection process. You download the Boingo software (available for most Windows and Mac computers and also for Pocket PC handhelds) and use the software to sign on to a Boingo hot spot. This arrangement allows Boingo to offer a more consistent user experience when you roam around using its service. Boingo is also taking advantage of this software to offer a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, service for business customers. VPN is a secured network connection that others can’t intrude on.
We talk a bit more about Boingo software in the following section because you can use it to sniff out open access points, regardless of whether they’re Boingo’s.
Toots for Finding Hot Spots
When you’re on the road looking for a freenet, a community hot spot, or a commercial provider, here are a few ways that you can get your laptop or handheld computer to find available networks:
Do your homework: If you know exactly where you’re going to be, you can do some online sleuthing, find available networks, and write down the SSIDs or WPA passphrases or WEP keys (if required) before you get there. We talk about these items in more detail in next topic.Most hot spots don’t use WPA or WEP (it’s too hard for their customers to figure out), but you can find the SSID on the Web site of the hot spot provider you’re planning to use. Just look in the support or how-to-connect section.
Look for a sign: Providers that push open hot spots usually post some prominent signs and otherwise advertise this service. Most are providing you with Wi-Fi access as a means of getting you in the door as a paying customer, so they find a way to let you know what they’re up to.
Rely on your network adapter’s client software: Many network adapter software systems give you a nice pull-down list of available access points. In most cases, this list doesn’t provide details about the access points, but you can use trial-and-error to see whether you can get online.
Use a network sniffer program: These programs work with your network adapter to ferret out the access points near you and provide a bit of information about them. In this section, we describe sniffers from two companies: Netstumbler.com and Boingo. (Note: In most cases, network sniffer programs are used to record and decode network packets — something the highly paid network analysts at your company may use. In this case, we’re referring to programs that are designed solely for wireless LANs and that sniff out radio waves and identify available networks.)
We find sniffer programs to be handy because they’re a great way to take a quick survey of our surroundings when we’re on the road.No problem! A quick session using the Network Stumbler software (see the following subsection), and — lo and behold! — the Wayport access point in the lobby was up and running. With a quick flip of the wallet (to pull out his prepaid card).
Network sniffer programs are also a good way to help you evaluate the security of your own network. In fact, they’re the main reason why the developers of Network Stumbler created the program.
Netstumbler.com
The granddaddy of wireless network sniffer programs is Network Stumbler (www.netstumbler.com), which is a Windows program (it works with Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, and XP) that connects to the PC Card network adapter in your laptop and lets you survey the airwaves for available Wi-Fi access points. Network Stumbler lists all available access points and gives you relatively detailed information about things such as the SSID and Media Access Control (MAC) address of the AP, whether WEP is enabled, and the relative power of the signal. You can even combine Network Stumbler with a GPS card in your laptop to figure out exactly where you and the access point are located.
Network Stumbler doesn’t work with every Wi-Fi card. You can find a list of compatible cards on the Netstumbler.com Web site.
If you use a Pocket PC handheld computer, the folks at Netstumbler.com have a program for you: Mini Stumbler, available at the same Web site (www.net-stumbler.com). A similar program called MacStumbler (www.macstumbler.com) is available for Mac OS X computers.
In fact, a growing number of these network sniffer programs are available, and most of them are free to download. You can find a list at the Personal Telco Project at http://wiki.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/WirelessSniffer.
Figure 16-2:
Netstumbl-ing John’s house — lots of access there!
Boingo
You can also use the Boingo client software (available at www.boingo.com) as a network sniffer program (as long as you’re using a compatible operating system and network adapter). The primary purpose of this software is to manage your connections to the Boingo network, but Boingo has also designed the software (and encourages the use of it) as a means of finding and connecting to freenets and other public open networks.
You can even use the Boingo software as a manager for all your Wi-Fi network connections. If you have a wireless network at home, one or more in the office, plus some public networks you want to connect to, try out the Boingo software. Figure 16-3 shows the Boingo software in action.
Figure 16-3: Go! Go! Boingo!
