Wireless internet in Hamilton?

SABBATICAL! · #1 Posted **Jul 26, 2009, 5:10 PM**

Where are the hotspots at?
Does any kind of map/listing exist along the lines of this? http://is.gd/1NHk2
If not, lets get a list going and I'll create one!

emge · #2 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 1:09 AM**

http://www.wirelesshamilton.com/

omro · #3 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 2:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emge

http://www.wirelesshamilton.com/

I fine WH very patchy, I can get a good signal in the oddest of places. Outside the dollarama in JS, the east of Hughson part of Gore Park and the south end of Barton Street directly opposite the Food Basics.

SABBATICAL! · #4 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 4:19 AM**

Yeah, that WH thing is cool, although those kinds of services tend to be pretty unreliable/low bandwidth in general. How's this one as far as speed when you do have a good connection? Any limitations on SSH/SMTP etc?

Arent there certain businesses that have free wifi as well? Freeway Coffee House comes to mind... others?

omro · #5 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 1:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SABBATICAL!

Yeah, that WH thing is cool, although those kinds of services tend to be pretty unreliable/low bandwidth in general. How's this one as far as speed when you do have a good connection? Any limitations on SSH/SMTP etc?

Arent there certain businesses that have free wifi as well? Freeway Coffee House comes to mind... others?

I'm wandering around the city using my phone, which can pick up wireless networks, so I haven't a clue about bandwidth or any particular limitations. I just use it to check my email and facebook and sometimes this forum.

Freeway Coffee House does have free wifi, I was using that two weeks ago. It's actually really nice inside too.

This city has a number of pockets of unencrypted wifi, which probably aren't intentionally open and probably not going to always be there. I found one on Locke a while back, north of the Starbucks. Another on Ottawa on the east side, not too far north of the Tim Hortons. There's a Hasty Market on Main/Sanford which has been a very useful place to stand outside and check my email lol. One on Main Street by the bus stop east from Dundurn. There's one in Eastgate Mall, nearby the big home furnishings store.

SteelTown · #6 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 2:11 PM**

Starbucks has wifi but it's not free. Only free if you have a Starbucks card.

omro · #7 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 2:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Starbucks has wifi but it's not free. Only free if you have a Starbucks card.

Lots of places have WiFi for patrons. Second Cup in Westdale will give you access to their WiFi if you are a regular if I recall.

SteelTown · #8 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 2:56 PM**

Which is fine, I just use it to check my email.

jgrwatson · #9 Posted **Jul 27, 2009, 6:37 PM**

Wasn't there a recent Spec article about the city investing into the current WI-FI in downtown?

I use Wirelesshamilton daily as I reside in Gore Park and generally it is quite reliable. I use my phone basically down to Bay as well.

ryan_mcgreal · #10 Posted **Jul 28, 2009, 1:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by omro

I fine WH very patchy, I can get a good signal in the oddest of places. Outside the dollarama in JS

That's because they have a hotspot at the Food Court. However, the signal is all but nonexistent in Gore Park - just strong enough to mock you with the fact that you can't use it.

Pam's at King and James (next to the LCBO inside JS) has pretty strong Wifi. Sky Dragon has it as well, but it's not as strong.

matt602 · #11 Posted **Jul 28, 2009, 2:05 AM**

Yah, I regularly stole Pam's wireless while waiting for the Barton bus when it served a stop beside Jackson.

thistleclub · #12 Posted **Oct 17, 2013, 12:41 AM**

PCMag has ranked Canada's Fastest Mobile Networks. Local results?

Hamilton: Bell LTE
Better LTE network availability across the Hamilton area made the difference for Bell. That's good, because our Bell HSPA+ phone really struggled with blocked connections in Hamilton, reporting a strong signal but frequently unable to download files. Rogers showed the opposite characteristics, with broader HSPA+ than LTE service availability. Telus functioned very similarly to, but slightly slower than Bell. WIND showed strong service availability across the Hamilton region, but very slow speeds, especially on uploads. That makes WIND a good low-cost choice for light Web browsing and maps usage, but it'll need to raise its upload speeds if it wants to provide solid service for social networking photo uploads.