Are you visiting London and looking for Free WiFi? In London you can connect to WiFi at hotel rooms, train stations, subway, airports, libraries, some parks and public places, cafes and pubs. In most of cases you have to register with your personal data to connect to open WiFi networks. The city of London and The Cloud have partnered to bring public WiFi coverage in London. The Cloud has launched the City of London Wi-Fi network in 2006, providing an external WiFi coverage throughout the City thanks to hotspots placed in street locations. It is a free service and you can find the Cloud’s hotspots at Caffè Nero, Pizza Express, PRET and Wagamama, as well as in many stations, stadiums and shopping centers. The connection to the Cloud’s City WiFi network requires the use of a browser and you get disconnected after 15 minutes of inactivity. About the coverage: “The Cloud’s City WiFi network is free and unlimited and covers 95% of the Square Mile’s outdoor areas.” Before using it, it is necessary to create a Nube account. After creating username and password, all you have to do is log on through the browser when you access a Nube WiFi hotspot.
It's really hard to find a hotel without WiFi but not all the hotels provide it for free. The service can be sometimes a fee, but the cost is included in the room charge. Until a few years ago, the number of hotels with Free WiFi were a lot less, but today there are more than 1500 that openly claim to offer Free WiFi (including B&B). Some hotels with Free WiFi are: The Goring, Chic Residency Apartments at Marble Arch, The Lanesborough, 45 Park Lane - Dorchester Collection and Short Lets in London - Kilburn. Tip: Wiman App is an alternative solution for finding other Free WiFi hotspots in the area around the hotels and hostels and it gives you unlimited WiFi which is important while traveling.
Almost all the restaurant and coffee chains (Starbucks, Caffè Nero, McDonald's, Prèt a Manger, etc.) offer Free WiFi. The connection is not always open, but you can register online or ask for the password to the staff. The O2 WiFi service is available to all smartphones and you don’t need to be O2 customers (some of the chains covered by this service are McDonald’s, Debenhams, Costa Coffee, House of Fraser, Café Rouge) and password is not required to access WiFi. Virgin Media provides a password for those who are not customers at the cost of 5 pounds per week and WiFi also works in the subway. Many shops have a FREE WIFI badge at the storefront. However, the registration procedure requires often a UK mobile number. There are also many pubs that offer Free WiFi, such as the Wetherspoons pub.
BTWiFi (formally BT Openzone and BT Fon) is a broadband WiFi service available in public places like airports, hotels, cafes, service stations etc. The service costs £4 for one hour connection or £10 per day. O2 WiFi is a free service and you don’t have to be a O2 customer or own a O2 SIM in order to use it. You have just to sign up and the connection does not require any username or password. In Starbucks UK, the connection service is free for 2 hours per session and every day you can access as many sessions you want, after waiting at least 2 hours between sessions. Starting from 2013, Skype WiFi has worked with the London office of Wicoms to create Free Skype WiFi, which will allow Skype users to access from any active position in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Are you a tourist looking for free Internet in London and you need to go online to get some information to move around in the city? Virgin Media offers a ‘Pay for Service’ WiFi network in the stations of the London Underground. In order to get connected you just have to enable your smartphone or tablet once and then you will be automatically connected each time you take the subway (and you are in a WiFi enabled station of course). The Internet access is available without additional costs to Virgin Broadband, Virgin Mobile Pay Monthly, Vodafone, EE, Orange and T-Mobile customers. Otherwise you can use the service after purchasing a Virgin Media WiFi Pass for a day, a week or a month at the cost of £2, £5 and £15 respectively. Wiman App offers the opportunity to get unlimited WiFi everywhere in the city and allows you to get the WiFi map of London when you are online and browse it even offline, so if there are no available WiFi just around you, you will know where you can find free hotspots.
Have you just arrived in London at Heathrow Airport or Stansted Airport and you need free Internet to get some information to move around, download city maps or check the hotel reservation? In the Heathrow airport, in all 5 terminals, you can connect for free for 45 minutes per day, which become 90 minutes if you own the loyalty card Heathrow Rewards. The entire inner area of the Stansted airport is covered by a wireless network that offers the possibility to access the Internet for up to 60 minutes navigation time, while waiting to leave. In order to enjoy the WiFi service in the airport you need to enable the wireless connection in your PC and choose one of the three companies that offer the service (T-Mobile, BT Openzone and The Cloud); finally enter your username and password if you are already subscribed to one of these companies. Also the London Luton Airport has an open WiFi network: "Luton Airport WIFI"
The easiest way to find Free WiFi just around you: it seamlessly auto-connects your smartphone to the best WiFi in range and you don’t have to do anything, just having the app installed. Thanks to the huge Wiman Community, made of people who share their own WiFi network and connect to WiFi shared by the other users, you can find other Free WiFi nearby in addition to the open ones. Shared WiFi is certainly tested and working. You can also get the WiFi map of London when you are online and browse it even offline, in the event that there are no WiFi available just around you. Wiman holds your hand and guides you through the whole WiFi research process by enhancing your travel experience!
