Free Wireless Internet In Downtown Seattle? (Spokane, Tacoma: apartment complex, university, utilities)

[509]

Well our daughter will be attending the University of Washington this fall.

So it looks like our shopping, concert, and going out to dinner trips are going to switch from Spokane to Seattle.

We have really enjoyed having the free wireless internet access in downtown Spokane for the past decade. The city of Spokane set up the network. I can work or surf the net while the family shops and plays.

I assume Seattle has something similar downtown. Does anybody know what it is called and how to access it??

[jamesandveybe]

Tacoma has wireless but not Seattle. There are tons of unsecured connections though, so connecting anywhere near downtown or an apartment complex should not be a problem. Same for around the University of Washington. Of course, I would never suggest you should use another person's connection, especially seeing that they are so careless to not secure their connection...

[allforcats]

Actually you might want to consider lawful availability in Seattle:
Free Wireless Internet (WiFi) Access Points in Seattle, Washington (http://www.auscillate.com/wireless/seattle/ - broken link)
The Seattle Public Library: Computers & Equipment
Seattle To Make A Big Advance In Wireless Internet | KOMO News - Seattle, Washington | News Archive
Wireless net to cover downtown Seattle

[tada]

UW has wireless internet on pretty much the whole campus.

[Rickers]

On the Montana board I made a post titled "can I get in trouble for doing this" Search out this post, there is a wealth if information in the replies and it kind of scared me out of poaching wireless signals. If a city provides it for the folks that is different but it can be risky business using a signal that you don't pay for unless you have permission to use it. Also google "war-driving" much info on all those sites also. I think there are some obscure federal statutes that could be applied to this practice. I do know that there have been people prosecuted for this practice in Florida.

[bigtrees]

Rickers, your post was actually in the Computers forum.

I read a lot of the posts but no one referenced an actual court case or law that says connecting to a wireless router that was open access is illegal. One person cited accessing a network without permission was illegal, but I think that'd be hard to convince a jury that you were access the network if you only used it for wireless (those are two different things).

I think this is an area where common sense rules, though, and I'm not convinced that we need a law for every stinking thing that a guy can do. It's sort of like the scooter rule - I never really thought much as to whether it was legal to move someone else's vehicle or not, but figured that was something that people just didn't do. Now they have a law against it.

One thing that makes regulating wireless access is that the FCC is actually in charge of the airwaves and everything that goes on. So state and local goverments can't make it directly illegal because it's the wrong jurisdiction.

Bottom line - if I had the option, I'd go for it!

[509]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will stay away from "poaching" signals. Somehow that does not feel right.

I did get a chance to talk to an "expert" in the tele-communications business on why Seattle does not have the high tech infrastructure like counties in eastern Washington.

His comments were interesting:

The presence of a high tech industry does not mean high tech services. He said that people tend to confuse the two. For example, Seattle has a lot of high tech businesses that create high tech products, but fewer companies that actually use the services. For eastern Washington, the Public Utility Districts (PUD's) needed the fiber services to manage their infrastructure. The farmers also need the satellite, GPS, and internet services to manage their crops.

His second point was more worrisome. The reason many urban areas do not have the infrastructure is....Corporate Greed and Government Corruption. He gave the example of the local PUD's wanting to provide telecommunication services in addition to electricity, water, and sewer services. Verizon (corporate greed) convinced then Governor Locke and the Democrats through their generous donations (government corruption) and prevented the government owned utilities in eastern Washington from providing tele-communication services directly to the taxpayers.

He provided this link to the only Wi-Fi cloud in operation in the US as far as he knows. Started in 2004 in Umatilla County in Oregon and was up and operational in a very short period of time. It covers many of his points. Where you see the comment about "Politics" in the article, just substitute "government corruption".

USATODAY.com - Biggest Wi-Fi cloud is in rural Oregon

Oh, and he did say that the city of Seattle has been working on providing wireless acess in the downtown core and providing fiber network for several years now. However, they are still talking about it.

Oh well, guess I will just have to take a book to read while in Seattle.

[41Willys]

I would think with all the Star Bucks in Seattle and other coffee lounges that internet access would be everywhere.

[509]

Thanks, but we are retired on a fixed income with a kid at the University of Washington.

$5.00 for a cup of coffee...plus wireless connect charges!!!

Wow...$30 right out the window.

Free is an important word to us.

Going out to dinner now means going out to lunch. Ah, for the days of disposable income and the ability to **** away money on worthless items!!

[Rickers]

When I moved to Conrad Montana I kept getting the police departments signal as well as my own. We told the police who are directly next door to our building that their wifi signal was unsecured and they had no Idea that anyone could poach it. Within an hour or two it was secured and the chief was very grateful. I have no problem with paying for services that I want to use. It is just simply the right thing to do. Oh and I did post that on the computer board, my memory isn't what it used to be. What did I just say ?