As a work-from-anywhere writer, I’m always on the hunt for cool new cafes and work-friendly spaces to haul my laptop to. If I head somewhere new, though, I’m always plagued by the same questions: Are there outlets? Is the Wi-Fi reliable and is it free? Is there food or just old, crusty bear claws?
I have a few regular spots that I can always count on, but exploring cafes and work spaces in new places also means not knowing whether I can connect to the Wi-Fi or if it’s even fast enough. Café Wifi is a web and mobile app (free on iOS currently; Android to come soon) that shows you where free Wi-Fi is located in many cities throughout the world — perfect for the remote worker or digital nomad like me.
Similar to Workfrom, another online database for remote workers, Café Wifi draws information from outside sources like FourSquare and user-contributed info and reviews. This does mean that its usefulness is limited by the number of actively contributing users, and it’s currently not quite there yet. In the sprawling city of Los Angeles, for example, the paltry list of shops is missing far too many cafes.
Also, the features of Café Wifi aren’t as robust as Workfrom yet, but the mobile app is a lot more slick-looking than the web app. One perk is that if you’re just quickly searching, Café Wifi shows the listed cafe’s internet speeds beforehand, whereas you have to sign up to be a Workfrom member to access this information. At this point, Café Wifi looks promising and neat, but needs more time and updates to expand its usefulness.
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