There are now public WLAN hotspots for free Internet access on every corner. TECHBOOK reveals how to find the access points and connect to them.
There are many reasons why internet access via wifi is sometimes more convenient than via mobile data. For example, because the data volume is no longer sufficient or the reception is currently poor.WLAN hotspots can help here, with which you can access the Internet free of charge in cities and the surrounding area.
There are free WiFi hotspots here
restaurants and shops
The first port of call for many free WiFi hotspots are restaurants and fast food chains like McDonald’s, Starbucks & Co., which have been offering their customers free WiFi for years – some with a time limit, others without restrictions. Even if some of these places are already well-known, other shops may surprise you with their free Internet offer. Or did you know that H&M and Galeria Kaufhof also offer free WiFi hotspots?
You can surf for free in these large chains in Germany (note that not all branches, train stations, etc. are necessarily expanded):
- McDonald’s (one hour free surfing)
- Burger King (unlimited)
- Starbucks (two hours of free surfing)
- Apple Store (unlimited)
- DB lounges at the train station (unlimited)
- DB train stations (train stations in Germany offer 30 minutes of free surfing. There is a list on the Bahn homepage)
- DB Bahn (In all ICEs in 1st and 2nd class on most routes)
- Deutsche Bank (two hours of free surfing)
- dm drugstore (one hour free surfing)
- H&M (unlimited)
- IKEA (unlimited)
- real (unlimited)
- Galeria Kaufhof (unlimited)
- Subway (one hour free surfing)
In addition, some supermarket branches of Rewe and Edeka also provide a free WiFi hotspot, as do many smaller cafés, bars and pubs. In many cases, transport companies have already provided hotspots at their stops, as have airports. Even churches are slowly following suit.
Free WiFi hotspots from Telekom and Vodafone
The major providers Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone also operate numerous free WLAN hotspots in Germany. Often their network is even behind the free offer of the shops mentioned. Users can also dial into the hotspots directly. In the Deutsche Telekom The following applies: If you have booked a tariff with the provider, the hotspot function is often included in the monthly basic fee. Otherwise, hotspot passes can also be booked for different time slots. Vodafone allows all users to use their own WiFi hotspots free of charge for up to 30 minutes a day, even without a contract. If you need more time, you can also book various hotspot passes here. The exact location of the hotspots of the two providers can be found on a map integrated into the respective website.
Hotspot expansion in cities
Cities and municipalities also offer free WiFi hotspots in various places. Berlin, for example, operates over 2000 hotspots with the “Free Wifi Berlin” network. Together with the four partners of the WLAN initiative (Freifunker, mabb, EKBO, BVG), there are even more than 10,000 free WLAN hotspots throughout the city. the Free admissions by district can be found on the city’s website.
Similar to Berlin, many other German cities, including Leipzig, Dresden, Hamburg and Frankfurt, handle it. Also Munich For example, operates a free WiFi network at around 350 locations in cooperation with SWM.
Did you know? – This is the difference between WLAN and Wifi
Find free WiFi hotspots and use them properly
To see exactly who is offering a free WiFi hotspot, there are a few tools. On the one hand there are apps with databases for public wifi networks. Examples here are “WLAN Instabridge” (free for Android and iOS) or “Wifi Map” (free for Android and iOS). But also the website Wifimap.io lists numerous hotspots, sorted by city if desired.
In most cases, Internet access is freely accessible via the hotspots, so a password is not required. But this is precisely why you should exercise particular caution at the hotspots. The security standard here is usually very low, making it easy for hackers who want to access data. You should therefore avoid online banking or entering sensitive data in public WLAN networks as far as possible. In a pinch, you should use a VPN. Read our guide Beware of public wifi networks more about how to protect your data in free WiFi hotspots.