Hotspot Hunting Episode II (Manila Malls)

Episode II (Manila Malls) is the second of a three part series on my WiFi Hotspot Hunting experiences. Episode III set in UP Diliman. The third will come out on June 10 about hunting in Baguio.

It hadn’t been easy finding a good WiFi Hotspot considering my needs requirements: it had to be free. Free - because that’s the kind of WiFi Hotspot I access in school at AIM.

About a month after buying a WiFi LAN card for Kurdapia, my laptop, it still kept me wondering whether I’d be able to sniff out a couple of hotspots around the malls in Metro Manila.

I tried WiFi access on Kurdapia at Robinson’s Galleria while dining with my wife at Thai Kitchen. Kurdapia was able to find an Airborne Access hotspot. But I needed a username and password. I didn’t have any.

In the Zone in Cyberzone

Another time, I was at Megamall at the Cyberzone. I was waiting for my wife at one of the cafés in the zone when I noticed the lady on the next table. She had her wireless internet connection up and was surfing the net! I asked the waitress what I needed to connect to the hotspot. She said “Sir wala naman ata. Basta nalang silang nag-bubukas ng computer at nag-su-surf.”

So I booted-up Kurdapia. I was soooo excited to access the internet from a café. But the bad news was – Kurdapia didn’t have enough power in her battery. Shucks. I ended up doing a shutdown, shut-up and settle for reading the magazines. Sayang. I haven’t gotten back to trying that hotspot in Cyberzone.

There was this huge billboard at Shangri-La Edsa mall that announced that the entire mall was a hotspot. I always imagined myself going to Shang from home and accessing their WiFi internet connection for free. That hasn’t happened and I think it will never happen. Unless airborne access gives me some free access.

Some WiFi links

I finally used a paid WiFi hotspot at Power Plant mall last April. My classmates and I went rock-climbing there. After climbing two walls, I had to take a recess from the walls for a Skype appointment I had with my sister in Australia. I purchased a drink at Seattle’s best, a P100 airborne access pre-paid card which gave me 1 hour of internet access and then I cozied up in soft sofa. We had a perfect voice call going with my sister using Skype and the Airborne Access WiFi wireless Internet connection.

Considering that my sister and I got to talk for almost an hour, sulit naman yung P100 na binayad ko. Of all my calls through skype, that call I made via Airborne Access from Seattle’s best in Power Plant was so far the clearest.

But then there was this hotspot hunting trip I did with my brother in Baguio. Do you know where to find WiFi hotspots in Baguio or where to not? Watch out for Hotspot Hunting Episode I (Baguio).

Know of other WiFi hotspots in the metro? Share naman, tell us about them. Especially if they’re free! Mwahahaha!

Read: Hotspot Hunting - Episode III (UP Diliman), Episode I (Baguio)

Ka edong the haunter
Guess where Maya and I are now! At cyberzone with Fiona and Kurdapia, surfing! One happy family, hahaha! ;-) Ma-upload na nga itong story na ito ... 7 Jun 2005