i-fi, you-fi, WeFi

Duncan Riley of TechCrunch writes about WeFi, a free wifi finder service that is still in private beta until Wednesday. Here’s a bit of what he has to say about it…

The WeFi client replaces the Windows connection manager and finds and connects to free WiFi hotspots. The location of free hotspots is displayed on a map that also shows the location of other WeFi users. The maps are regularly updated as users discover and connect to WiFi.

This could be a handy dandy little service. Especially if, say, you’re on a road trip and you’re deciding day by day where you’re going to go, and you’re blogging the entire thing. I know, I know. No one in their right mind would ever do such a thing. Anyway, there are many potential uses for this service and I’ll definitely be checking it out once it launches on Wednesday.

I can’t tell from Riley’s description how it differs from AnchorFree (formerly metrofreefi.com), except perhaps in that it’s constantly updated based on user data. When I use Wefi as a guest, I do not see single hotspot in my area, and anchorfree doesn’t list any either. I know of four off the top of my head.

We’ll see how the Wefi’s hotspots line up with reality once it’s online. I know I’ll be adding some.