Have you ever found yourself out and about, perhaps visiting another city, looking for a free Wi-Fi hotspot? Perhaps you want to download an app or a podcast that is too big to be downloaded over 3G. Here are two quick ways to find free Wi-Fi zones on your iPhone.
First, using the iPhone's built-in Maps app, just do a search for "Free wifi" and you will see some entries:
Second, you can find one of the thousands of free AT&T Wi-Fi locations (such as McDonald's and Starbucks) by using the free AT&T Mark the Spot app. When I reviewed that app last year, I noted that even if you never want to use the app for its intended purpose (alerting AT&T when you find a spot with poor 3G coverage), the app is a very useful way to select a spot on a map and immediately see (1) the latitude and longitude coordinates of that specific location and (2) the street address. The address feature is especially useful — it's a quick way to look at a map and learn whether a part of the street is, say, the 800 block or the 900 block.
Additionally, the Mark the Spot app added a feature since I reviewed it last year to show you all AT&T hotspots on a map. To use this, just start the app and tap the "Map" button on the main screen. This will bring you to a map, where you can tap a button to see your current location or you can scroll around the map. Orange icons show you where you can find an AT&T hot spot.
In my tests, the information in Google Maps and the AT&T Mark the Spot app is sometimes out of date. You may walk to a spot only to find that the facility is now closed or under new management with free Wi-Fi no longer offered. But most of the time these two methods have proved accurate for me, so don't forget about these two easy ways to find free Wi-Fi next time you need it.
Click here to get AT&T Mark the Spot (free): 
