Europe hotspots

[poshdaphne]

Hello everyone,

I'm planning a trip to Europe this summer and I was hoping some of you could answer a question for me. How common are hotspots in the major cities in western Europe? Also, are they mostly free or are there usually charges? Thanks in advance!

[Jorgen]

UK

You generally pay for wi-fi: Starbucks (http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?menuid=phones_wb) is the main player but I seem to remember that Costa coffee bars deliver via BT Openzone (nothing on Costa's web-site but I picked their signal up in Baker Street a couple of years back). Paddington has Internet but not free. A couple of Internet cafes (eg Baker Street) has wi-fi. See here for McDonald http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Jan2004/6301.htm (again BT Openzone).

The Benugo coffee bars in London give customers virtually free Internet via wi-fi or Bluetooth: http://www.benugo.co.uk/s-index. And the coffee is good!

I don't know how uptodate this map is: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/specials/wifimap/.

UPDATE: This link will give you nearly all the hotspots http://www.btopenzone.com/find/index.jsp .

Jorgen