How to Find Free Wi-Fi Locations

Lots of places use AT&T as their internet provider to offer free Wi-Fi. Some of these locations include McDonald’s, Barnes and Noble, hotels, FedEx, and Starbucks. 

There isn't a hotspot map on AT&T's website to help you find free Wi-Fi, but they do suggest using a hotspot locator app like one mentioned below.

Nearly all of AT&T's free hotspots use the same SSID of attwifi.

Over 11,000 McDonald’s locations offer free Wi-Fi through AT&T. Though you can find these locations through a hotspot locator app, if you know you’re looking for free access at McDonald’s only, and don’t need to look elsewhere, you can search for it here, too.

Find a free McDonald's Wi-Fi location by searching for a restaurant. However, know that some owner-operators might disable Wi-Fi, in which case you won't be able to access it.

To use the internet for free at a McDonald’s, just connect to the network called Wayport_Access or attwifi_mcd, open a web browser, and then choose the CONNECT button.

Similar to McDonald’s, Starbucks serves out free Wi-Fi through another company, but instead of AT&T, Starbucks uses Google. It works both in the US and in Canada.

Wi-Fi is free at all company-owned Starbucks locations. See their Store Locator map to find a Starbucks location.

If you give the Starbucks map your current location, it can find all the free Wi-Fi locations near you; just filter by Google Wi-Fi to make sure the locations you see have free internet. You can also filter the results by service, such as for ones that offer mobile payment and/or 24-hour access.

The wireless network Starbucks uses for free Wi-Fi is called Google Starbucks. Just select that network, complete the fields that pop up on the screen, and then choose Accept & Connect.

Tens of thousands of places with free Wi-Fi locations have been manually added by the users of Open Wifi Spot, and there are a few different ways to search for them.

Open Wifi Spot can be used absolutely free through their website. The site lets you find free nearby Wi-Fi by city and view it on a map as well as in a list, but you can also find a location by type, such as by airports, train stations, pharmacies, public parks, shopping malls, etc. 

Open Wifi Spot finds free Wi-Fi anywhere, including not only the United States but also Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Brazil, and other countries.

Boingo is another search engine for finding places with free Wi-Fi. Its database includes information on over one million hotspots!

Enter a city, address, or postal code to get a map and list of all the locations. Once the search results are showing, you can narrow them down by location type, like airport, bar/restaurant, hotel, commercial store, or cafe.

One thing worth mentionting about the free Wi-Fi listings at Boingo is that you can export the search results to a PDF file that includes the location name, address, and Wi-Fi SSID for easy offline viewing.

Click any hotspot on the map for the name of its SSID and an option to see directions to that location from any other location.

You can also use Boingo to find free Wi-Fi near you and get directions to any of the locations with their iOS app or Android app. It's also available on Windows and Mac.

Free Wi-Fi locations in the United States, Asia, Canada, the Middle East, and other areas can also be found through The Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory.

You can look for locations by state or by country/region. You can also browse by special location, which supports looking for companies, hotels, airports, RV parks, and vacation rental property that offer free Wi-Fi.

This website isn’t as detailed as some of the others from this list, so be sure to check the sources from above first. Instead of showing specific locations and network names, you’re simply given a website link to the company, park, or hotel in question, leaving you to contact the business yourself or scour their website for Wi-Fi information.

Not only do most libraries have free access to computers, but some also offer free Wi-Fi so you can bring your own laptop or smartphone in with you to get free internet.

Several examples of public libraries that have free Wi-Fi access include the New York Public Library, Free Library of Philadelphia, Dallas Public Library, LA County Library, Brooklyn Public Library, Wichita Public Library, and San Jose Public Library.

It's best to visit your own local library or access their official website for information on whether they offer free Wi-Fi and for details on how to connect to their network. Some networks are open but others require a password or even a library card number.