How I Find Free WiFi (Updated)
[Last Revised: 5 Mar 2015 - - revisions/updates in bold)]
San Angelo Library, TX
One of the weekend volunteers at the San Angelo Visitor Center asked me how it compared with those around the periphery of the Texas. I had to confess that I had only been to two: Langtry (so named by Judge Roy Bean) and Wichita Falls.
I finally found a map where all 12 of the Texas Visitor Centers are located; here's a link to a list of the Texas Visitor Centers.
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The San Angelo Visitor Center is once again leaving its WiFi on 24/7 with a router name of "SAChamber-Guest" [omit quotes]; the passcode is "sachamber [all lower case]. If you wish info on San Angelo, their business hours as follows: Weekdays: 8:30am - 5pm; Saturday: 9am - 4pm; & Sun: 12noon - 4pm.
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On Thanksgiving 2013 I decided to check some of the "Big Six" here in San Angelo to see how many left their WiFis running while they were closed. In 2013 only one, Home Depot turned their WiFi off while they were closed; and their WiFi is not yet operating as of M 2 Dec.
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After spending Halloween Eve in Austin, Texas, during a couple of strong thunderstorms, I was reminded of another source of free WiFI: FedEx. While it's usually not as strong as any of the Big Six listed below, it has the advantage of numerous locations -- especially in big cities such as Austin.
After hunkering down at a 7/11, eating a sandwich for dinner, and watching the run-off from the roof of the attached Chrvron gas station, I finally drove to the McDonalds farther up Jollytime from the 7/11. However, because there was a nearby Humana office also using AT&T WiFi, it was impossible to log on to Mcdonald's WiFi. When I stopped in at the 7/11 again, the previous clerk had been replaced. While we were talking, a woman who came in to buy some wine mentioned that Krispy Kreme Donuts had free WiFi.
In driving up Jollytime I missed the Krispy Kreme, but found another McDonalds; however, I wasn't able to park near enough to log on due to the heavy business they were doing. As I drove around the shopping center I noticed a FedEx. A young fellow in San Antonio had told me that all of their offices have free WiFi. You generally need to be nearer their office than with those which follow in the next paragraph. I'm now adding FedEx to those with nationwide stores and changing the name I used in the next paragraph.
I found out in Nov 2013 that WiFi at Sam's Club is a permanent fixture expected to be in all of their outlets by the end of that month.
Since libraries are most likely to have WiFi I often look up the website of the next county seat's library along my planned route. But if I neglect to do that, there are now six national chains from which either to look up a library or each other. Here are The Big Six.
- McDonalds
- Starbucks
- HomeDepot
- Lowe's
- Sam's Club
- FedEx
While Lowe's has the strongest WiFi, mainly because that's needed to cover their large parking lots, I've listed McDonalds first since one often sees their billboards when approaching a new town or city.
Also, you can sometimes see the "Golden Arches" in case you missed their billboard.
While Starbucks parking lots are often crowded around noon and again in the evening and they usually have two handicapped parking spots in front of their stores, their WiFi is usually as strong as McD's, if not stronger.
As one might expect, HomeDepot's WiFi is almost as strong as Lowe's WiFi.
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Prior to some point in 2012 one could download a list of all of a state's McDonalds restaurants with WiFi by clicking on "Find WiFi Hotspots" on their homepage.
Now, however, if one wants such a list, he has to "roll his own" by looking up restaurants with WiFi at the following link and then saving them to a text file.
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McDonalds' Restaurant with Free WiFi
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In late July of 2014 McDonalds modified its WiFi, dropping Wayport_Access in most cases but retaining "attwifi" in some cases and named their routers "McDonalds Free Wifi."
However, in my version of Windows 8 one rarely see 2 boxes which ask if I know the UserID and Passcode or need to open a web browser to complete the connection. While I've found some suggestion on-line such as using Google's Chrome browser, resetting the IP Interrupts, etc., nothing I've tried so far works with 100% certainty. Am I the only one with this problem or have you had a similar problem accessing routers using ATT Wifi?
McDonalds has now corrected the lack of the query whether you needed to open a browser to access their WiFi.
While I've not made such lists for the other members of "The Big Six," I sometimes look them up ahead of time if I'm headed for a city which is large geographically.
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But there are substitutes for the
Big Four which I'll call the "Big Four Subs." They include the following.
- Visitor Information Centers
- Some Grocery Store Chains
- Senior Centers
- Some Regional & National Restaurant Chains
- Some Hotels & Motels
I was told at Judge Roy Bean's Visitor Center in Langtry, Texas, that all of their Vistor Centers have WiFi. Colorado's Ft Collins Visitor/Info Center had a desktop one could use for 20-30 min but no WiFi for my laptop. Utah's Visitor Center at Dinosaur Rd and US40 had WiFi, but I only learned that by asking -- which is what I suggest you do when you stop at a Visitor Info Ctr in any state.
Safeway is the dominant grocery store chain in California and on the west coast. Their stores built or remodeled in the last 6-7 years usually have WiFi -- especially if they have a Starbucks counter/kiosk in the store. Ditto for their Vons stores in Southern Calif. & Arizona.(It may be that Albertsons stores with Starbuck counters or kiosks also have WiFi.) Finally, only about 5% of Safeway/Vons' stores have 110v a.c.; if, like me your laptop battery is nearly comatose, you'll have to look elsewhere.
The advantage of Senior Centers is that you're just as likely to find them in a small town as in a bigger city. For instance, I've used the Baggs, Wyoming, Senior Ctr WiFi twice while they were closed. Of course, you may have to "come in through the back door" by logging onto their router, usually Linksys or NetGear. In both Grand
Coulee, WA, & Kemmerer, CO, I didn't use their WiFi but asked them where the library was.
While I have gotten on-line while parked outside a Wendys, Burger King, Dennys, Hardees, WhatABurger, & Golden Chick, I don't believe any of those have a policy of WiFi at every restaurant.
The last two are chains in Texas or the southeast where the franchisee decides whether or not to offer free WiFi.
A contractor named Tim Kelly, whom I met in Las Cruces, NM, told me about the WiFi at HomeDepot & Lowe's. He also pointed out that not all motels or hotels have passcodes. [In fact, recently I parked behind one to get the address of the Gunnison, CO, Library; then I used Mapquest to find my way there.]
Veterans Day 2011 Field Check
Driving around San Angelo on Mon 11 Nov I checked as many fast food & restaurant chains as possible. Scholtzkey's, which was recommended by one of the librarians, has a program which blocks those without passcodes; hence, it's not free; however, their website (
Find Your Schlotzkey's) has the ability to show only those outlets(c300) with WiFi. One might categorize their restaurant as at the upper end of the casual dining restaurants.
Many of the fast food restaurants either had passcodes or their WiFi was too weak for me to log on. When I stopped at Wendy's on Sherwood Way between a Walmart Supercenter and a Sam's Club, I was able to log onto the free WiFi of the 3d largest burger purveyor (by sales); and their web site allows one to search for only those Wendy's with WiFi.
But when I first tried to log in at Wendy's, WiFi for its neighbor, Sam's Club, barged in. Have never tried other Sam's Clubs for free WiFi, but I shall when I begin traveling again. Sam's Club WiFi did not work 2 days ago, but it did on Su 17 Nov eve.
One technique I've used is to search for a "store locator" using a restaurant chain's name; there are 2 links below to fast food and casual dining restaurants. Some, such as Wendy's, allow you to search for only those outlets which have WiFi.
Texas Visitor Centers
[aka "Texas Travel Information Centers" on the TDOT
"Safety Rest Area" map]
- Amarillo
- Austin
- Denison
- El Paso
- Gainsville
- Harlingen
- Langtry
- Laredo
- Orange
- Texarkana
- Waskom
- Wichita Falls
The San Angelo Chamber of Commerce runs a Visitor Center with rest rooms which are open until 4 or 5 p.m., depending on the day of the week. Thanks to my complaints, it appears that all of the volunteers who man the Center now know the passcode for the San Angelo Chamber of Commece guest router; see above.
A Few Words about Libraries
It would be convenient if all libraries left their WiFi's on 24/7 and did not use passcodes. But, skinflint that I am, I would likewise turn the routers off when the library closed if I were the librarian.
And why is it that the smaller towns have libraries with passcodes whereas libraries of larger cities rarely use them? As I told the librarian at the Big Pine, TX, library, "You would think the libraries in larger cities have more secrets to hide than do those in small towns." And why is it that I arrive in small towns with closed libraries which have passcode-protected WiFi on Sundays when some big-city libraries are open?
Do you have corrections, suggestions, or additions? Send them to my Hotmail e-mail address and after I check them out I shall add them to this article giving you credit. Especially want to find more companies like "The Big Six."
Return to Top of Page
Links:
Routes:
F 13 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Wash Pot - Sherwood Way W/M
Sa 14 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Big Lots - Sherwood Way W/M
Su 15 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - nVisitor Ctr - Sherwood Way W/M
M 16 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Angelo Automotive - Big Spr VA Hosp Pharm - Comanche Trail City Pk
T 17 Mar Actual Route: Comanche Trail City Pk - Big Spr VA Hosp Pharm - Bargain Shop - Sherwood Way W/M
W 18 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - West TX RV Rpr - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Walgreens - Sherwood Way W/M
Th 19 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Walgreens - Big Lots - Sherwood Way W/M
F 20 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M
Sa 21 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Sam's Club - Walgreens - Sherwood Way W/M
Su 22 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Visitor Ctr - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M
M 23 Mar Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - San Angelo State Park
T 24 Mar Route: San Angelo SP - Eden,TX, - Menard
Finding Campgrounds:
N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.
There are two routes across the Everglades. The northernmost, which is a toll-road extension of I-75 and is also know as "Alligator Alley." The southernmost, which is a continuation of US41, the main highway south along the western coast of Florida, runs from Naples to the Miami Metropolitan Area. I chose the latter hoping to get better photos than from Alligator Alley. [Photos taken 6 May 2015]
