Ultimate Grounds on Park Blvd in Oakland offers free wireless Internet access! While working from home last week, I stopped by Ultimate Grounds for a cup of coffee. I brought my laptop along, hoping that either they or someone living nearby had an open hotspot. Thanks to Ultimate Grounds’ open WiFi connection, I was able to VPN into my company’s network and catch up on email and a bunch of other work. I ended up working there through lunch. I hadn’t planned to eat there, but since I benefited from their free WiFi connection, I was more than happy to buy a sandwich and a drink from them.
While searching for their address tonight, I ran across a page at the AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) website that lists “AMD hotspots in Oakland”. I already knew about Pacific Coast Brewing’s hotspot, but I didn’t know Cato’s Alehouse offered free WiFi. I was actually there last night, but didn’t notice any signs advertising free WiFi. I would’ve definitely brought the PowerBook along if I had known, since I was just tagging along with my wife who was having a meeting with someone else. Although I took the time to catch up on some reading, I would have equally enjoyed complementing a couple Downtown Browns with some web browsing.
There’s a couple more listed here:
http://wififreespot.com/ca.html