herronryan
Seasoned Expediter
do any major chains (flying j, etc...) have free wireless internet?
WI-FI internet?
- Thread starter herronryan
- Start date
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Nope, they have rather a lock on wifi at truck stops.
The sad thing is the service level agreement does not guarentee internet access at all, read them carefully. I was disgusted by Pilots tech support telling me that I have to live with the 100 bits per second and the 3000ms ping times to yahoo.com because others are using the internet at the same time. I won't repeat what I said but it all came down to 'find a better place and stop using the service'.
The sad thing is the service level agreement does not guarentee internet access at all, read them carefully. I was disgusted by Pilots tech support telling me that I have to live with the 100 bits per second and the 3000ms ping times to yahoo.com because others are using the internet at the same time. I won't repeat what I said but it all came down to 'find a better place and stop using the service'.
I somehow got on for free at the J in South Beloit, Ill. I have had my laptop for about a month so I am still experimenting. Some hotels, bookstores, coffee shops and Mcdonalds have free access.
Cheri is an expert on free wireless accesss and lurking. I'm sure she will add to this post when she finds a free wi-fi hot spot. Unless she's fighting over a half eaten Egg McMuffin behind some McDonalds.
Cheri is an expert on free wireless accesss and lurking. I'm sure she will add to this post when she finds a free wi-fi hot spot. Unless she's fighting over a half eaten Egg McMuffin behind some McDonalds.
Herronryan: Moot is too kind, what I know about Wifi would fit in a flea's ear, with plenty of room left for a Q Tip - but the subject has been covered on the Tech Forum pretty well. I used the TA Wifi, when they offered 2 for 1, for a month, but didn't like being restricted to truckstops. I like the ATT Wifi, which is inexpensive, and because they partner with McDonald's, widely available. Free Wifi is out there, like at the rest areas in Iowa, and there are websites devoted to the subject, like Netstumbler.
When all else fails, you can usually park behind a motel & latch onto a free signal, but not always - some of them actually insist you check in to get online, lol.
Please read the Tech Forum, for more and more informed opinions, and Happy Hunting!
When all else fails, you can usually park behind a motel & latch onto a free signal, but not always - some of them actually insist you check in to get online, lol.
Please read the Tech Forum, for more and more informed opinions, and Happy Hunting!
Tennesseahawk
Veteran Expediter
Sapp Brothers truckstops have free wifi. Unfortunately, they're only around Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.
"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know." - Kansas
"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know." - Kansas
maybe_driving
Seasoned Expediter
try here for wifi
www.wififreespot.com it list them by state
In God we trust, everybody else keep were hands where we can see them
ooida#811397
www.wififreespot.com it list them by state
In God we trust, everybody else keep were hands where we can see them
ooida#811397
I agree with Greg on Pilot being the WORST wifi out there...imo Flying J has the most reliable and fastest. TA is spotty...depending on the location and the general upkeep almost always co-relating to the level of reliability of the service. There are some rest areas that provide free wifi...and yes...as Aviator alluded to...apt buildings are a good source.
I find it weird...I can be sitting at a pilot with miserable service but yet pick up a Flying J hotspot and there isn't a J within miles! I think I heard someone say that Blue Beacon sometimes is a J hotspot.
Oh, some of the Husky truck stops in Canada provide free access
along with some of the mom and pop stops here in the states that want to attract drivers.
I find it weird...I can be sitting at a pilot with miserable service but yet pick up a Flying J hotspot and there isn't a J within miles! I think I heard someone say that Blue Beacon sometimes is a J hotspot.
Oh, some of the Husky truck stops in Canada provide free access
along with some of the mom and pop stops here in the states that want to attract drivers.
pilot flying j loves and ta all charge for it.the ta u can use your roadking points for it though just go to there sign in and when it asks for payment type click on the roadking and put in your number it will ask for your password which is your zip code unless u change it. the use your points prices are something like 149 point for an hour 497 for a 24 hrs and so on. fliyinj thogh is probaly the best but a little pricey unless u use flying j alot the flying j system is also available at some petros.
nightcreacher
Veteran Expediter
if you go to back of parking lot @ flying j indianapolis,you can steal,no i mean borrow the best westerns signal,you will need to park near the best western building
One thing to keep in mind when stealing free WiFi access, especially from near an apartment building, is that it's known as [/b]Unauthorized Access To A Computer Network[/b] and is a Class C (or third-degree) felony. If you do anything else illegal while online it'll get bumped up to a Class B Felony (kiddie porn will get you a Class A ding, for sure).
Many WiFi hotspot owners (in homes especially) intentionally leave their access points unsecured and don't mind if other people use it. And some places advertise free WiFI access (like Panera Bread, for example) and don't mind at all. Some people leave them unsecured out of ignorance, yet don't really care one way or the other if people use their access point. Still others secure their networks to prevent unauthorized usage. In any case, secured or not, if you access the network without permission it is still unauthorized use and you are subject to criminal charges.
While it is very rare for people to be charged with anything, unless they are doing something illegal online, it is something to keep in mind when you are sitting near an apartment complex or in an office park.
Without using a directing antenna to zero in on your exact location, it's nearly impossible to know precisely where or who is stealing access from an unsecured WiFi network (although your MAC address will be known, and if it shows up in enough places, enough times, you'll eventually be caught with it, but that's well after the authorities have gotten deeply involved). Still, that blue glow from the computer monitor piercing through the windows can be a dead giveaway.
Stealing WiFi is pretty benign, and for the most part no one cares. The chances of getting into any trouble at all are pretty remote, especially if you don't try anything funny while online, like SPAM, or spoofing, anything illegal, or whatever. Just the same, it's probably a good idea that folks are fully aware of what's going on when they are accessing a private WiFi hotspot.
I think it was the blue glow more than the van itself that caught the attention of the Secret Service when I was parked on the street outside of the UN Building early one morning.
Many WiFi hotspot owners (in homes especially) intentionally leave their access points unsecured and don't mind if other people use it. And some places advertise free WiFI access (like Panera Bread, for example) and don't mind at all. Some people leave them unsecured out of ignorance, yet don't really care one way or the other if people use their access point. Still others secure their networks to prevent unauthorized usage. In any case, secured or not, if you access the network without permission it is still unauthorized use and you are subject to criminal charges.
While it is very rare for people to be charged with anything, unless they are doing something illegal online, it is something to keep in mind when you are sitting near an apartment complex or in an office park.
Without using a directing antenna to zero in on your exact location, it's nearly impossible to know precisely where or who is stealing access from an unsecured WiFi network (although your MAC address will be known, and if it shows up in enough places, enough times, you'll eventually be caught with it, but that's well after the authorities have gotten deeply involved). Still, that blue glow from the computer monitor piercing through the windows can be a dead giveaway.
Stealing WiFi is pretty benign, and for the most part no one cares. The chances of getting into any trouble at all are pretty remote, especially if you don't try anything funny while online, like SPAM, or spoofing, anything illegal, or whatever. Just the same, it's probably a good idea that folks are fully aware of what's going on when they are accessing a private WiFi hotspot.
I think it was the blue glow more than the van itself that caught the attention of the Secret Service when I was parked on the street outside of the UN Building early one morning.
Fr8 Shaker
Veteran Expediter
It was about a week or 2 ago that I heard on the news someone got busted for accessing someones wi-fi from a home or apartment and they got a 1000.00 fine and if i'm not mistaken 1 yr. in jail.
Fr8 Shaker
Fr8 Shaker
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Turtle,
I can’t see access to an unsecured network access point as stealing, just as much as copying a DVD that is in my collection to put on my computer stealing.
The RIAA wants you to pay for each time you copy a song for you personal use, and the MPIAA wants to encrypt every DVD so you have to have a unique 128 bit key every time you want to use it because they both say it is stealing if you don’t follow their definition of stealing – the same is with wireless access and politician’s reaction to stupidity with these laws.
There is a law that you can't listen into Cell calls, but for some reason the people who listened into Gingrich's phone call that caused him to leave the congress has never been charged for breaking federal laws. The same with scanners, the law says we have to have these frequencies blocked but the law is outdated with the new technology.
The problem I see with laws like this is that enforcement is so vague in many cases even if there is a repeat use, chances of getting caught without bragging is very slim.
One issue for me is that the equipment has the capability to secure the connection, if the person is that lazy not to follow simple instructions to setup security, it should be their problem. I mean the instructions are written for three year olds, not adults – Step 1 take the black plug at the end of the cable attached to the little black thingy with silver thingies sticking out of them and plug it into the little hole with the word POWER above it. Step 2…..
The same with companies who subscribe to a service to provide an access point, they need to do Due Diligence to ensure that the connection is setup for their customers/subscribers/etc.. and not complain if someone uses it outside of a customer/subscriber/etc. Their service provider or vendor should do the work properly.
The thing is that I have no control over where RF travels and it is my responsibility to secure my network, as I was taught a long time ago – RF knows no boundaries.
As for the MAC issue, wireless cards are cheap; you buy a few to go on your connection trip and no worries. Also wireless routers also have a feature to change MAC addresses.
I can’t see access to an unsecured network access point as stealing, just as much as copying a DVD that is in my collection to put on my computer stealing.
The RIAA wants you to pay for each time you copy a song for you personal use, and the MPIAA wants to encrypt every DVD so you have to have a unique 128 bit key every time you want to use it because they both say it is stealing if you don’t follow their definition of stealing – the same is with wireless access and politician’s reaction to stupidity with these laws.
There is a law that you can't listen into Cell calls, but for some reason the people who listened into Gingrich's phone call that caused him to leave the congress has never been charged for breaking federal laws. The same with scanners, the law says we have to have these frequencies blocked but the law is outdated with the new technology.
The problem I see with laws like this is that enforcement is so vague in many cases even if there is a repeat use, chances of getting caught without bragging is very slim.
One issue for me is that the equipment has the capability to secure the connection, if the person is that lazy not to follow simple instructions to setup security, it should be their problem. I mean the instructions are written for three year olds, not adults – Step 1 take the black plug at the end of the cable attached to the little black thingy with silver thingies sticking out of them and plug it into the little hole with the word POWER above it. Step 2…..
The same with companies who subscribe to a service to provide an access point, they need to do Due Diligence to ensure that the connection is setup for their customers/subscribers/etc.. and not complain if someone uses it outside of a customer/subscriber/etc. Their service provider or vendor should do the work properly.
The thing is that I have no control over where RF travels and it is my responsibility to secure my network, as I was taught a long time ago – RF knows no boundaries.
As for the MAC issue, wireless cards are cheap; you buy a few to go on your connection trip and no worries. Also wireless routers also have a feature to change MAC addresses.
kangar0085
Seasoned Expediter
Public libraries and some rest areas also have free wifi wireless..almost all rest areas in Iowa have free wireless.
greg334
Veteran Expediter
Well I am now sitting at flying J enjoying a reasonable connection after fighting with Pilot's tech support over a connection all morning long that is worst than anything I have seen in a long time.
Last night I was in Louisville with a good connection until 7PM and then all of sudden it went dead, well time to move anyway back to Indy. Their router seemed to have died.
So I get into the pilot south of indy and the connection is horrible, barely loading my test page in 3 minutes (I have a static test page I use for testing servers on one of my sites and it should load in less than 2 seconds with a slow connection) and called them to ask them what is going on. The tech support guy bounced the cache program and it improved for about 2 minutes after I hung up, so I gave up and read for a while. I came back to it and still it was so slow so I called again and it all happened again. I gave up and got a 'free day' of usage when I need it and I moved to flying J.
Last night I was in Louisville with a good connection until 7PM and then all of sudden it went dead, well time to move anyway back to Indy. Their router seemed to have died.
So I get into the pilot south of indy and the connection is horrible, barely loading my test page in 3 minutes (I have a static test page I use for testing servers on one of my sites and it should load in less than 2 seconds with a slow connection) and called them to ask them what is going on. The tech support guy bounced the cache program and it improved for about 2 minutes after I hung up, so I gave up and read for a while. I came back to it and still it was so slow so I called again and it all happened again. I gave up and got a 'free day' of usage when I need it and I moved to flying J.
I don't expect to ever see free wifi at a truckstop. They are short of parking spaces already with (to their thinking at least) far too many trucks pulling in just to park without spending any money. Having another magnet like free wifi to draw in even more non-paying trucks would be stupid from a business standpoint. One can argue it would bring in more customers but the larger percentage would almost assuredly never spend any money, just use the free wifi.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.
Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA Life Member 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.