Who's doing the fact-checking?
Quite useful!, says Dave about the Wi-Fi hotspots now flagged on Yahoo! Maps. He provides a link to a map showing Bryant Park, 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Aves.
Unfortunately, the glaring omission is that it doesn't point out the free hotspot in Bryant Park. A well-established meme in the blogosphere is that blogs provide the fact-checking not found in print journalism. I guess I have to jump in on this one since this is my backyard.
In a previous post, I demonstrated that you could use a PPC handheld (I used a Dell Axim X3i) to run Skype and make international calls for no charge, not even for the Wi-Fi because I was sitting in Bryant Park on a beautiful spring day a couple of weeks ago. I was making calls to Germany and Italy but was limited to those already on the Skype network.
If you look at the map you can see numerous Verizon Wi-Fi phone stations that house their antennae. The problem is that you can only use this service if you are a Verizon Online customer. Last year I had their service, and I took my laptop to check it right there on 42nd and 6th Ave. Doing this on different occasions, I was never able to achieve more than 280 kbps. Using the Bryant Park hotspot, I've been able to get bandwidth as high as 1.3 mbps.
The McDonalds have free Wi-Fi from the time being as they switch from Cometa (which is now defunct) to Wayport. You might be able to find one electric outlet, but with the noise, muzak, body traffic, spilling drinks, etc. it's not really a place to work. Once I popped into a McDonalds, sat down with Dell Axim in one hand and my Treo 600 in the other, do two separate things on the Web, when from behind I overhear a young woman say to her friend, "You know, pretty soon everyone will have one of those." I wonder which one she was referring to. Probably the Treo. The Axim is pretty plain although it has a better screen.
The Kinkos Wi-Fi, which is T-mobile, is reliable, plus they offer the desk area, electric outlets and printing services that makes it a better place to work over Starbucks. Kinkos is open 24 hrs., which could be a lifesaver if you're on a deadline.
I have successfully used the free hotspots at City Hall Park and Bowling Green Park, but I don't see the Wi-Fi hotspots designated at all in those neighborhoods on the Yahoo! maps. I have to give the nod to Ji-Wire for getting the map right for NYC.
Recently, I stopped by a Borders bookstore on 2nd Ave. and 32nd St, and saw a display of free books published by O'Reilly authored by Flickenger & Brian Jepson entitled "T-Mobile Hotspot, A Guide to Getting Unwired at Borders." It's a 72-page pocket guide to Wi-Fi and enabling your account, as well as, a new promotion code for getting 24 hrs. free from T-Mobile (BDPOSDP33), and a coupon for "$5 off any one regularly priced O'Reilly computer book over $20!" The cafe there is small and cramped with no outlet in sight, so I didn't bother to stop and connect.
But, if you just need to check your email, and you're carrying a handheld with a Wi-Fi radio, you can easily stroll along most streets and just hop on any unsecured network.
2:48:22 PM 
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