Intel starts mapping out wi-fi hotspots

WHILE THERE'S A WAY to go before a wi-fi roamer can "seamlessly" flit from hotspot to hotspot and still stay "ubiquitously connected", Intel has vowed it will push the technology just as fast as it can. And to that end it's put together a worldwide list for its Centrino notebooks on its web site.

Here in the UK it has 48 towns listed so far, there's some unlikely addresses here. If you're forced to eat food at the South Mimms Service Station, you can go smurf the interweb while you're doing so at the Welcome Break.

London, as you'd expect, has the most coverage, with 54 sites already listed, including the Alperton McDonalds.

There is an 802.11b at London Heathrow mentioned by Intel, it's in the Terminal One international departure lounge. This must be rather new - neither Tony Dennis nor myself noted the whisp-fi when were there recently on our way to CeBIT.

What about Hamburg - which is supposed to be one of the most wired up places in the known universe? According to the Intel site there is a total of five hotspots here. CeBIT is hosted in Hannover, but the Intel site lists only seven hotspots in the city, none of them near the messegelande. There was, however, a whisp-fi spot at the messe - you could buy special cards to access it.

Taipei, rather suprisingly, only has two accredited hot spots, one in the Eva [Glass] Air Lounge and the other at the Taiwan International Convention Center, which is where the Computex show is hosted in June.

We're pleased to note that there's a wi-fi hottie spot in Swindon, Wiltshire. This is where the UK HQ of La Intella lives.

The hotspot is at the Hilton Swindon.

There are no hotspots in Alaska, which is an American state. And China only has 14 hotspots so far, so that's one for every 100 million people or so...

Go here to search for yourself. µ