instead of FON, use meraki. They give almost all of San Francisco free wi-fi.
meraki.net

Most of these, however, use a fixed key for the WEP key in the form of something like WLAN12. And don't get me started on aircrack-ptw

I was just reading about the Boingo client; their FAQ seems to say it will connect to various sites and partners even if there is no Web login. Neat, if it works.

These companies seem to all be about numbers, including partner networks (FatPort says they partner with Boingo, UBC partners with FatPort but it's not transitive..) so I'm not sure without paying and trying it how many sites this thing will actually work at. $8 .. maybe I will ..

(my UBC account worked at White Spot restaurant in Squamish near here, somewhat
to my surprise - they advertise FatPort access and have a reciprocal agreement).

Google turned up iPass with "over 100,000 hotspot locations". Boingo says "100,000+ Hot Spots". Fatport says "4000+" but they "roam" with iPass and Boingo (US). Whatever that means.

Anyone know anything about iPass ? N8*0 compatible ?? http://ipass.jiwire.com/

BTW, the academic networks in Europe, Australia, Canada are joining
Eduroam http://www.eduroam.org/ so that your WPA2 academic login will work at most other universities. Cool.

In Winnipeg, MB, Canada it's somewhat easy to find free wifi around the city. It's not always there - as it is the benevolent stores offering it up as a perk. But I will say it's certainly put free 802.11b/g on the map and given it a badly needed voice.

When traveling for work (usually to Alberta), people have said I can expense off wifi time at the airport, but I prefer to go without. While it would be nice to get the full techie experience while traveling, the prices are just too opportunistic. I watched all the free wifi at airports disappear as the major players put their pieces into place. If I'm going to pay for internet access on a regular basis, I want it everywhere I go.

As for hotels... In Canada and the Northern USA they almost always have free wireless internet with varying - usually crippled - degrees of quality. Even some small motels in rural Saskatchewan have free access!
The Fairfield Inn-Mariott in Grand Forks is the best I've seen to date where they actually offered real IPs on request through their management software! The speed was comparable to a home connection no less, I complimented them at the front desk in person as these kinds of things need to happen more often.

I'm hoping that the auction of wireless bandwidth in Canada recently will open things up a bit more - but I'm not holding my breath. The only people interested in - and capable of!! - investing in communications infrastructure in Canada are greedy and progress averse albatrosses.

That's half the reason why I prefer to ride on the coattails of small businesses' goodwill and obtain a practical and unrestricted device like the N810. It represents a badly needed correction in wireless innovation: away from the monopolies and dishonest business practices wireless providers are so clearly guilty of.
As a bonus, if the business has something I can buy at the time, I'll almost always do so or at least do so a majority of the time. They have a proactive and positive interest in what they do (Espresso Junction @ the Forks in Winnipeg, this goes out to you!).

This has somewhat inspired me to see if my DDWRT flashed Linksys router is capable of joining a free wifi ring.

Most motels (cheaper ones, such as Econolodge and Super 8, not those expensive hotels, such as Sheraton and Hilton) and some bigger electronic stores in US and Canada, such as Best Buy and Staples, have free wifi. When I travel, I usually park my car outside a motel or go inside these electronic stores and make Skype calls or check emails or even bid ebay items.

I have a Starbucks card, and have been using my free 2 hours per day of WiFi to surf on the tablet. It's great!!!

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pi...rticleid=25152