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Page Three: Wi-Fi hot spots are springing up around London. ZDNet UK's intrepid reporters set out to find out if the services live up to the frothy hype.
After our disappointing experience at the Fenchurch Street Starbucks, we were keen to give the coffee chain another chance. Our virtue wasn't immediately rewarded, though, as we blundered into the wrong Wardour Street outlet (easy mistake, as there are two Starbucks on the same road). Fortunately, we were pointed in the right direction and one quickly gulped espresso later we made it to number 60, where a sign on the door advertising a "T-mobile hot spot" showed that all was well. The staff were aware that the wireless network was installed and working, and every table sported a leaflet explaining what a Wi-Fi was and how to get connected. Registering with the T-Mobile HotSpot UK service was easy, though at £5.50 for one hour this was the most expensive tariff after BT's £6. Once connected, we got around 980Kbps of bandwidth, which suggested that, once again, we were the only people using a 1Mb pipe. Despite appearances, it seems that other people do indeed use the hot spots. "We get plenty of people using the Wi-Fi at lunchtime," explained one staff member, who added that some people even resort to standing in the doorway after closing time to access the network. "You can even use it at night from outside, by putting your laptop against the door."
The people at Internet Exchange are old hands at public Internet access, with years of experience of running Web cafes. They have recently begun offering Wi-Fi at selected stores, under the Surf and Sip brand, so we braved the Covent Garden buskers to give their service a whirl. Internet Exchange claims that the presence of trained staff at its stores puts it ahead of other Wi-Fi operators. We're inclined to give this statement some backing -- the man behind the counter explained the service and the pricing, and told us to ask him for help if there were any problems connecting. We joined the Surf and Sip network, paying £5 for a day's access. Once again there were no other Wi-Fi users, and once again we were assured that "quite a few people use the Wi-Fi network each day" (including plenty of tourists, apparently). The bandwidth varied between 1650Kbps and 1886Kbps, suggesting a total of 2Mb of bandwidth was available. Perhaps someone else was also logged on, at the front desk or even outside. Like T-mobile, Surf and Sip sends you an emailed receipt, followed by a letter of thanks. In this second missive, company president Rick Ehrlinspiel vowed that his firm would strive to keep the networks running, but warned that certain incidents, such as "a blown fuse while an employee was making a smoothie while toasting bread while microwaving soup" -- could scupper them.
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