Hunting for wifi in Notting Hill Gate
I have a deep dislike of chain coffee shops, especially Starbucks, because of their outrageous prices, copy-and-paste interiors, and habit of killing off smaller competitors on the same street.
But while in London yesterday to cover the Apple keynote, I found myself in Notting Hill gate with just half an hour to spare and needing to file some copy. Reluctantly, I stepped into Starbucks, bought a cup of tea, and fired up the PowerBook.
I was automatically connected to the T-Mobile hotspot and fished out my wallet to pay for an hour's connectivity. Then disaster struck - I only had my Switch/Maestro card, no Visa or Mastercard. Guess what? You can't use Switch to pay for T-Mobile's service. Dammit.
Frustrated (not just that I couldn't do the work I'd planned, but also because I'd paid bloody Starbucks for a cup of tea just to find this out), I went to switch off the Airport card in order to save battery life (top tip, Mac laptop owners: when you're out and about and don't need to be online, switch off Airport in the Menu Bar and you'll get significantly more time from your batteries) and noticed another wireless network listed.
It turned out to be The Gate, a low-cost network run independently for people in the Notting Hill Gate area. And you can pay for it using your Paypal account.
Delighted at (a) sticking one up to T-Mobile, and (b) sticking one up to Starbucks, and (c) saving myself a few pennies, and (d) actually being able to do the work I needed to do, I grinned and started tapping away.
I've no doubt there's plenty of free wifi in decent cafes in London, if you have the time to look for it, or are organised enough to seek it out in advance. But this chance discovery made me feel good about supporting a local outfit, despite having to do so in bloody Starbucks.
Incidentally, Bristol's public wireless zone remains the most impressive I've used. Widespread and free to use from dozens of nice cafes, pubs and homes, it ought to be a model for other cities to copy. London local authorities, take note.
Labels: writing
