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p/meshableFree WiFi for ridesharing passengers
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Ben Tossell

getWiFi - A global map of 500,000+ open, public WiFi hotspots

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Robert G
Maker
Hey, I'm one of the cofounders of getWiFi/Meshable. We wanted to make free WiFi simple to find, no app required. We are also bringing free WiFi to small businesses that traditionally do not offer it (e.g. food trucks https://meshable.io/trucks). Happy to answer any questions! (Follow us at @MeshableHQ <3)
Levi Kovacs
@rgawdzik @meshablehq Interesting! Wondering about the tech behind it. Is it something like a proximity scan for open networks?
Robert G
Maker
@kovlex @meshablehq For the mobile version of getWiFi, we perform proximity scans when you have no current WiFi connection to find nearby networks that we know are free. Here is our tech stack: - Elixir (http://elixir-lang.org/) - Phoenix Framework (http://www.phoenixframework.org/) w/ Postgres - Convox (https://convox.com/)
Nambirajan
@rgawdzik @meshablehq hey why is there no zoom in, zoom out option? found it difficult to navigate.
Robert G
Maker
@nambitious @meshablehq Hey Nambirajan, you can zoom in and out using your mouse scroll.
Ben Lang
Top Product
Super useful!
zhangming
i don't know how to use it
Robert G
Maker
@zhangming086 Try out a sample query such as "philz" into the top left, and when you select the first item you should zoom into the map like so: http://imgur.com/EAWPsxU You can also scroll around the map using your mouse cursor/scrollwheel.
Muloka
How can we add to this map?
Robert G
Maker
@muloka We are adding crowd sourcing functionality; atm you can send me the access points you want to add at: robert@meshable.io
chris bell
Love this! Just wondering how you were able to add this many before the crowd sourcing feature was added?
Samir Doshi
so much easier to grasp with this visual representation ---just like a density map
c.smith301
This could def come in handy 🙌🏻😜
Ryan
This will definitely be useful! Congrats!
tommaso
Travellers of the world united!
Yusef H. Dualeh
ALL HAIL THE WI-FI
Eric Anderson
It's about time! This is fantastic. I'm actually excited to help out and submit a bunch that aren't on here yet.
Robert G
Maker
@theericanderson Awesome! Since crowd sourcing functionality isn't released, you can send me the access points you want to add at: robert@meshable.io
Eric Anderson
@rgawdzik Ah fantastic! Will do. I live in Calgary currently and there are a *ton* of really solid wifi spots here.
Adpreneurs
Hey @robert just trying out your app as it's basically something as a digital nomad I've been praying for. When I type in regions in south america though lets say "itacare, bahia brazil" or "cusco, peru" I don't get anything. Where have you covered mostly, and is there a way to sign up for updates when our region makes it on the map?
James Foot
The Location search is really bad (at least in Portugal). Example Lisbon doesn't go to Lisbon
Robert G
Maker
@jamesfoot62 Thanks for letting me know. We are using Mapbox's geocoding API, it's a bit quirky.
Cole Mercer
Nice, where does the initial dataset come from?
Alex Horoshkevich
Tried to find some free spots that I've already known and failed :( It's Minsk, Belarus. Also some others place are not public (for example in university they are for students only).
Robert G
Maker
@alexhoroshkevic Sorry about that! What's the ssid of the non-public university wifi you are referring to?
Alex Horoshkevich
@rgawdzik for example BSU-Internet (Minsk, Belarusin state university). And there is a free spot in "ТЦ Столица" (no english equivalent, sorry)
Alok Jariwala
@rgawdzik free and unsecured in 1 thing but free and secured is another. How do you solve that issue ? Also Xfinity has that crowdsourced SSID which Xfinity users can connect might be a good partnership for you .
Robert G
Maker
@aaspire You are totally right. We have a builtin VPN on the mobile app roadmap for the more security centric users.
Alok Jariwala
@rgawdzik how do you source your internet pipe ? Comcast and att or public wifi ? Is it like I can open 1 guest SSID at home and your app will pull internet from there ?
Andrew Mutavdzija
Hmm, 24 hours to confirm my email. Confirm it 45 seconds later and it's too late :(
Jonas Almut
This is a great app, the map looks like those satellite pictures of cities at night all lit up
Matt Mershon
@rgawdzik Just fyi, there's currently an app available for iOS and Android for locating free Wifi (launched earlier this year) - let me know if you would like more info (maybe there could be some synergy or partnership with the two of you?).
Davy Changtastic
used it a couple of times in San Francisco with great success!