Money Matters, Simplified.
Google lures travelers with free Wi-Fi this hoilday season
by Jaspreet Virk - November 11, 2009 - comments
The service is being offered in collaboration with Advanced Wireless Group, Boingo Wireless, and Airport Marketing Income
New York, November 11 -- The holiday season is around the corner and Google is gearing up to market itself. In a move to appeal to travelers during the upcoming holidays, the Internet search giant is offering free Wi-Fi facility in 47 airports nationwide.
Starting Nov. 17, Laptop, smartphone, iPhones and iPod Touch users who plan to board a flight, can make the most of this service till Jan. 15, 2010.
The 47 airports include Gallatin Field airport in Montana, McCarran International in Las Vegas, Houston's Hobby in Houston and Bush Intercontinental in Texas, among others.
Along with the free service on airports, Google is also offering this facility on Virgin America flights for the same period.
Calling the service a great holiday gift to approximately 100 million people, Google stated, “We do a lot to get people to spend time online. That's really our world.”
The service is being offered in collaboration with Advanced Wireless Group, Boingo Wireless and Airport Marketing Income.
Readers’ reactions
There are many readers who have taken to blogs and forums and are discussing free Wi-Fi facility to be offered by Google. If some readers have voiced excitement over the free service, there are others believe that this is nothing great as many international airports already offer free Wi-Fi service
A reader named pee tee commented on engadget.com, “This is indeed one of the best gifts Google has given to America this year. And it has fund raising as well! This shows that Google has a big heart underneath its fat wallet of cash.”
Another reader named Brian posted his view on the same forum, “Wow, Google is really generous to give free Wi-Fi at airports that already have free wifi. I don't know about the others, but Charlotte, Las Vegas and San Diego are free all the time.”
“Wasn't free WiFi already available at FLL? Unless they changed that policy recently...? Never the less, pretty cool move!,” stated a reader named JR on mashable.com.
Cautious use of public Wi-Fi
There is no doubt that free Wi-Fi service at public places like airport is a great way to save money, but experts have warned on cautious use at public places as Wi-Fi hotspots expose laptops, smartphones etc to serious security breaches.
While using these services, users need to be cautious. The first step is to ensure that the Wi-Fi device is configured not to automatically connect to any network without your approval.
Use Virtual Private Network (VPN) application. It protects your computer communication and provides a secure extension of a private network into an insecure network such as the Internet.
Setting up personal firewall protects password and sensitive information. Further, one should disable the feature in browser that automatically types the logins and passwords.
It is also advised that users should encrypt their data, which prevents cyber-criminals from comprehending what you are writing.
By following the aforesaid recommendations, a user stands a better chance of keeping his public Wi-Fi sessions secure from identity thieves or nefarious hackers.