ICA © Rob Greig
Where to find free wi-fi in London
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By Harry Williams
Updated: Tue Apr 14 2009 -
Who says nothing comes for free? Time Out crosses London to find the pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants that offer free wi-fi, as well as some free wi-fi hotspots
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Free wi-fi in central London
The Social
The Social, spawn of the legendary Heavenly Social club night held at Turnmills in the 1990s, has been a haven from the horrors of Oxford Street for a decade. Free wi-fi is available in the top bar where you can nestle in the diner-style booths and indulge in such homely comforts as pie and mash or fish finger sandwiches. Beers include Hoegaarden and Kronenbourg; the cocktail list features exotic creations such as a cucumber martini. In evening live music is a regular fixture, so it’s probably not the place to hold your business meeting.
The Social, 5 Little Portland St, W1W 7JD (7636 4992/www.thesocial.com).
Bedford & Strand
You’ll encounter lawyers tapping furiously on their laptops at lunchtimes at this elegant wine bar-cum-bistro in a basement off the Strand. Choose from the wine categories of ‘Honest’, ‘Decent’, ‘Good’, and ‘Staff Picks’. For eats, order from the respectable, if slightly unimaginative, à la carte menu.
Bedford & Strand, 1a Bedford St, WC2E 9HH (7836 3033/www.bedford-strand.com).
Brasserie de Malmaison
You can get free wi-fi in the bar, lobby and dining room of this luxurious boutique hotel. Ask for a card from reception and you’ll be able to take advantage of the internet to your heart’s content for up to eight hours. The low lighting and soft upholstery will provide an intimate setting for you and your Mac. The ‘Home Grown and Local’ menu serves oysters, among other delicacies.
Malmaison, 18-21 Charterhouse Square, EC1M 6AH (7012 3700/www.malmaison-london.com). Feature continuesAdvertisementChristopher’s
Open-access wi-fi is available in the buzzy Martini bar at this Covent Garden venue. Open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. Christopher’s, 18 Wellington St, WC2E 7DD (7240 4222/www.christophersgrill.com).
The Diner
This is the place to come for the open access wi-fi washed down with American fast food. The all-day breakfast of pancakes, omelettes and Mexican treats is more than enough to power you through a three-hour Facebook-athon.
The Diner, 16-18 Ganton St, W1F 7BU (7287 8962/www.thedinersoho.com).
Christopher's Eagle Bar Diner
It’s probably best to avoid this place during lunchtimes if you’re planning on stretching a Budweiser out over an afternoon’s worth of email catch-up – it gets quite busy. Otherwise it’s a perfect place for a big burger and fries washed down with a mammoth milkshake.
Eagle Bar Diner, 3-5 Rathbone Place, W1T 1HJ (7637 1418/www.eaglebardiner.com).
Hawksmoor
Given there can often be a dirth of pews to pull up in this debonair steakhouse and cocktail bar, you might prefer a branch of Coffee Republic for setting up your mobile office for the day, but if you are happy perching on a barstool, have a penchant for saucy cocktails and highly acclaimed slices of beef, then this is the wi-fi place for you.
Hawksmoor, 157 Commercial St, E1 6BJ (7247 7392/www.thehawksmoor.com).
Joe Allen
This restaurant opened in 1977 and has been a popular haunt of the theatre crowd and tourists alike. The menu changes daily and might include such dishes as slow-cooked pork or corn-fed chicken breasts.
Joe Allen, 13 Exeter St, WC2E 7DT (7836 0651/www.joeallen.co.uk).
Shampers
Shampers is a lively, no-nonsense place that serves British food and wallet-friendly wine and Champagne. It gets very busy at lunch and dinner times, and it’s hard to imagine a lone internet surfer hogging a table. Nevertheless, the manager is very happy to hand out the wi-fi code to anyone who asks.
Shampers, Kingly St, W1B 5PE (7437 1692/www.shampers.net).
Zetter
In the heart of Clerkenwell, Zetter (a boutique hotel), is the place to head if you’re in search of comfort and style. Your fellow surfers will probably be monied sophisticates from the neighbourhood who are there for the weekend brunches and elegant setting.
Zetter, 86-88 Clerkenwell Rd, EC1M 5RJ (7324 4455/www.thezetter.com).
Café at Foyles
Fresh juices, healthy salads, top-notch sandwiches, Monmouth coffee, plenty of seating, jazz on the soundsystem… the café in Foyles provides a buzzy environment in which to wile away the afternoon surfing the web. If you tire of digital reading, pop downstairs to buy an old-fashioned book.
Café at Foyles, 113-119 Charing Cross Rd, WC2H 0EB (7440 3207/www.foyles.co.uk).
Scandinavian Kitchen
Quirky café and deli serving delicious Swedish open sandwiches, gravadlax, herrings, meatballs and the Danish ‘red hotdog’, apparently the Vikings’s favourite snack. In the spirit of Scandinavian egalitarianism there is a fair usage policy, so in other words you shouldn’t abuse their good will by sitting there all day and not buying anything (and yes, that means you will be frowned upon if you nurse a single cup of coffee throughout the lunchtime rush).
Scandinavian Kitchen, 61 Great Titchfield St, W1W 7PP (7580 7161/www.scandikitchen.co.uk).
ICA Café
Since its Peyton & Byrne makeover, this café and bar has become a super-stylish destination in which to dine on simple, tasty food and sip on a cocktail or two. The daily membership fee has been scrapped so it’s free to get in. Take your laptop and update your blog on aesthetic discourse.
ICA Café, The Mall, SW1Y 5AH (7930 3647/www.ica.org.uk).
Hummus Bros
A temple to chickpeas, Hummus brothers serves, erm, houmous, with a wide variety of toppings and wedges of warm pitta bread. There is open wi-fi access but this is essentially a busy fast-food restaurant so avoid lingering at peak times. There’s another branch on Southampton Row.
Hummus Bros, 88 Wardour St, W1F OTJ (7734 1311/www.hbros.co.uk).
Camera Café
The idiosyncratic Camera Café brings a touch of Parisian eccentricity to London. The front of the café is a shop with cabinets jam packed with second-hand cameras: anything from beautiful old Leicas to restored Hasselblads. In the back is a small but cosy café. French music is played and the walls are covered with photographs hung at jaunty angles. All the juices come freshly squeezed and the Thai food is excellent.
Camera Café, 44 Museum St, WC1 (7831 1566/www.cameracafe.co.uk).
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35 comments
The Westfield shopping centre in White City has a free network with a good signal and plenty of comfy seats.
Thanks Ian, I am on my laptop with it plugged into the wall for power at departure! How brilliant! the staff is so kind and it's a creative based cafe/library which is great for me because I'm a designer :)
Now I can work in peace!
Good work, Time Out, but I think Annie's excellent post proves that you could have tried harder.
Much as I dislike Starbucks, I have to back them up a bit here. They do have info on their web site about the WiFi they use. It is currently only available in Holborn and Chiswick in the London area.
http://starbucks.co.uk/en-GB/_Card/Starbucks+Card+Re wards+Wi-Fi+Support.htm
Phil.
Starbucks have switched to BT Openzone and you can only access the free wi-fi if you have one of their Starbucks cards however none of the staff are able to tell you how to access it and nor is there any info on their UK website.
Am aware of the WiFi hotspots in London...South London infact, in like McDonalds and so forth, but has anyone found an ideal spot for meetings, simply where you can have a group discussion alongside free wifi (enough space)?
Annie Boland's list looks very impressive until you notice how many Wetherspoons there are in there. Wetherspoon advertise free WiFi in all their pubs but it is extremely hit & miss and where you can get a signal it takes you to the wrong log-on page! Cheers JDW! To log on (where you can actually do so!) you need to stick the following in your browser's address bar and hit enter...
https://hotspot.thecloud.net/cloud-ssg-web/ssg.do
That should take you to the page where you put your ID in as "Sponsored" and password as "Service" (it's all on the correct log on screen).
The free WiFi in McDog is brilliant. Just wish I could say the same about the food!
Phil.
Thankyou Annie! Now that's what I call really useful!
For those who are interested, I made a list of all addresses of Restaurant/Pubs chains offering free WIFI in London (Wetherspoons, McDonald's, etc). It can be very useful to keep this list for offline use on your laptop or mobile phone: you will be able to search the txt file by street name in the list to find the nearest FREE hotspot in London :-)
Here is the addresses... ENJOY!
Corney & Barrow (Bar) FREE
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19 Broadgate Circle
9 Cabot Square
1 Ropemaker Street
5 Exchange Square
25 Fenchurch Avenue
1 Leadenhall Place
12 Mason's Avenue
2b Eastcheap
3 Fleet Place
12 New Street Square
111 Old Broad Street
37 Jewry Street
10 Paternoster Square
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Leon (Restaurant) FREE
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Carnaby Street, 35 Great Marlborough St
12 Ludgate Circus
275 Regent Street
3 Crispin Place
86 Cannon Street
73-76 Strand
7 Canvey Street, The Blue Fin Building (Behind the Tate Modern)
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Coffee Republic (Coffee Shop)
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FREE for 10 minutes
Note: Spend a minimum of £2 and you’ll get 20 minutes (the code is printed on the receipt), spend £5 and you get 45 minutes.
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Unit RS190 Cabot Place
198-200 Earls Court Road
71 The Mall
119 - 121 Gloucester Road
39 Great Marlborough Street
214 Portobello Road
19 Soho Square
1-9 Wimbledon Hill Road
Unit 3, 25 Exchange Square
38 Berwick Street
52 Gray's Inn
32 Coleman Street
157 Kings Road
778 High Road, North Finchley
8 Pembridge Road
214 Portobello Road
19 Soho Square
99 Tottenham Court Road
1-9 Wimbledon Hill Road, Wimbledon
220 High Street, Beckenham
38 Berwick Street
79A The Strand
126 Queensway
92 North End Road, West Kensington
25 Exchange Square, Broadgate
118A High Street, Bromley
35 King Street Parade, Twickenham
Southside Shopping Centre, Wandsworth
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McDonald's (Fast-Food Restaurant) FREE
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County Hall, Westminster
45/47 Whitehall, Westminster
155 Victoria Street, Westminster
Unit 43 The Colonnade, Lambeth
34/35 Strand , Westminster
5 Swiss Court, Leicester Square
25/27 Shaftesbury Avenue , Westminster
68/69 St Martins Lane , Westminster
115 Buckingham Palace Road , Westminster
74/78 Regent Street, Westminster
8/10 Oxford Street, Westminster
152/153 Fleet Street
112 High Holborn, Camden
185/187 Oxford Street, Westminster
291b Oxford Street, Westminster
West One Shopping Centre, Westminster
198/200 Walworth Road, Southwark
6/7 Holborn, Holborn Circus
177 Brompton Road, Kensington
134 Tottenham Court Road, Camden
2/3 Marble Arch, Westminster
49 Kings Road, Chelsea
Boland House, London Bridge
143/149 Cannon Street, City Of London
41/42 London Wall, City Of London
368/370 Wandsworth Road, Clapham
122 Baker Street, Westminster
Belgrove House, Kings Cross
178/180 Edgware Road, Westminster
302/304 Pentonville Road, Kings Cross
Unit 25 The Concourse, Liverpool Street, City Of London
Unit 55 (Macmillan House), Paddington Station, Westminster
67 Chapel Market, Islington
241 City Road, Islington
518/522 Brixton Road, Brixton
201/217 Commercial Road, Tower Hamlets
112 High Street, Camden
130/134 Clapham High Street, Clapham
76/78 Queensway, Westminster
518 Old Kent Road Retail Park, Peckham
208 Earls Court Road, Earls Court
102/106 The Highway Westbound, Shadwell
Sundial House, Kensington
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Pret A Manger (Restaurant) FREE
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7-8 St Martin's Place, Trafalgal Square
1 Whitehall
25 Villiers Street
62/65 Traflagar Square
421/422 Strand
---------------------------------------------------- --------
Wetherspoons (Pubs) FREE
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18–20 Edgware Road, Marble Arch
198–204 High Street, Lewisham
185 Lower Road, Rotherhithe
Metro Central Heights, 119 Newington Causeway, Elephant & Castle
56a High Street, Tooting
338–346 Holloway Road, Holloway
87–91 Mansell Street, Aldgate
29–35 Farringdon Road, Farringdon
7 Station Approach, Marylebone Road, Marylebone
4 Hertsmere Road, West India Quay, Docklands
125–127 Stroud Green Road, Stroud Green
22 Replingham Road, Southfields
282–284 Mare Street, Hackney
553 Kingsbury Road, Kingsbury
283–288 High Holborn, Holborn
250–252 Chingford Mount Road, Chingford
255–256 Upper Street, Islington
Swan Island, 2–4 King Street, Hammersmith
146–148 The Grove, Stratford
857–861 High Road, Leytonstone
105–107 Charing Cross Road, also at: 20 Greek Street, West End
46–47 The Mall, Ealing
Unit 5, Spouter’s Corner, 180 High Road, Wood Green
Unit 3, First Floor, Fulham Broadway Centre, Fulham
120–124 King Street, Hammersmith
32–33 Westow Street, Crystal Palace
194 Balham High Street, Balham
71–79 Peckham High Street, Peckham
149 Denmark Hill, Camberwell
7–9 Wellington Street, Woolwich
Cutty Sark Station, 210 Creek Road, Greenwich
107–109 Streatham High Road, Streatham
281 High Street, Acton
202 Upper Richmond Road
15 Trinity Square, Tower Hill
Africa House, 64–68 Kingsway, Holborn
16–18 Whitehall, West End
Unit 5, Victoria Island, Victoria Station
28 Leicester Square, West End
25 Wilton Road, Victoria
---------------------------------------------------- --------
Le Pain Quotidien (Cafe) FREE
---------------------------------------------------- --------
70 Parsons Green Lane
Units 5 & 6 Bow Bells House, 1 Bread Street
201-203 Kings Road
1 South End Road, Hampstead Heath
174 High Holborn, Covent Garden
81-85 Notting Hill Gate
Upper Festival Walk, Belvedere Road, Royal Festival Hall
18 Great Marlborough Street
15- 17 Exhibition Road
Unit 4, St Pancras International, Euston Road
4- 5 High Street, Wimbledon Village
9 Young Street, Kensington
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its the first time i have used this site and each time i am in london i find its the first one i use to locate.
Debbie who sent a message on 11th May 2009 comments about Brighton, but there are plenty of free sites there. I have a question to ask, is this the same Debbie who claimed to have a house in Kensington, Hounslow and Brighton?
There are LOADS of free wifi places in East London....at the top of Brick Lane, E2 (the Bethnal Green ROad end) there is a small cafe between the 2 bagel bakeries which offers it, plus one accross the road on the corner with big sofas, and the Surf Shop/cafe directly opposite the end of Brick Lane also has a couple of laptops you can use. THere are also other cafes along there which offer it too.
Bethnal Green library also offers free computer/internet use (possibly wifi too) you just become a member so need proof of address but do NOT need to be a resident of Tower Hamlets.
The Gallery Cafe next to York Hall swimming baths on Old FOrd Road E2 also offers free wifi.
London in the Stoneage indeed. When the pebbles on Brighton Beach have worn down to sand and the howling chill wind on the seafront dies, call me, it might be worth a visit :D
Leon's in Regent Street does not have wi-fi, nor do staff know anything about it
Well! That was a bit of lame effort was'nt it? I thought you'd have more than a few for the whole of East London! I get the impression this article was written to fill quota rather than serve any useful purpose. Disappointing!
I just called the Southbank Centre to see if there have been any issues with connectivity before I make the journey. The girl on the phone was useless! ''We haven't been told anything...urrrmmm...there's always problems and glitches...but I haven't been told anything'' Give me strength!
Southbank Centre WAS a great place to go until the wifi signal mysteriously became hit and miss a few weeks ago.
Spacious, large tables, numerous power outlets to plug in your laptop, no obligation to buy anything and stay as long as you want without being hassled -- these things made this my favorite free wifi place to go for a full day's work when I started going there about 2 months ago. But about 3 weeks go, the signal strength dropped to the point where basic browsing is painful (flashback of 56k days), and twice the wifi signal dropped completely. It's no longer reliable and now I have to find a place...arghhh.