Looking for free Wifi near Chinook Mall, and a place to work for a few hours each day

[photon]

Kind of a weird request.. I drop my son off at school every morning, and then have 2+ hours to fill. Driving back home would be a waste.

It's right around Chinook Mall.

So might as well get some work done, but kind of need Internet.

So far I've been going to the food court in Chinook and they have (had?) free Wifi there, but the past few days it hasn't been working. They also have a Rogers hotspot, but at $40 a month no thanks.

There's a Starbucks there but I don't feel right in using that space every single day for 2.5 hours, to justify it to myself I'd have to buy like 10 coffees.

Any other thoughts on where to go that has free Wifi? I don't mind driving a bit away from Chinook.

I guess ideally I would find an empty office space in the area and rent that (more comfortable), but that seems pretty hard to manage.

[Regulator75]

Photon, there maybe something in this link.
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=68622

[photon]

Thanks! Hey there's a Timothy's Coffee in Chinook, I will ask them tomorrow.

[Nage Waza]

There is also a Starbucks in Brittania, that might work (split your time up between a few different locations). You can also sign up for satellite or whatever it is called for your laptop, that costs money as well.

[photon]

Well I'll probably jailbreak my iPhone and teather it for access, but I'm not sure how fast that will actually be (though I guess it would encourage me to actually WORK rather than surf lol).

In the link Regulator posted they mention the free wifi in Chinook from Chinook Hearing, that's what I was using and that's what doesn't work anymore. Maybe I'll ask them tomorrow what's up, it's not like they turned it off or made it private, it's more like their wifi needs to be rebooted.

[Locke]

The Black Sheep Pub is on Elbow drive not far south from Chinook, it has free wifi and if you buy something every now and then I'm sure they'll let you sit there for a few hours.

[Jedi Ninja]

Thought I'd chime in here. I used to do this a few years back. The Starbucks tend to have the most reliable wifi service. Telus offers unlimited wifi for $25 a month and you can roam to the Bell wifi locations. (This covers off both Starbucks and Second cup) I hear that if you have a Starbucks card and register it, you can get the wifi there for free.

I used to mostly use Starbucks. When I did this, I'd buy a large coffee or tea (< $2) and drink it slowly, and would usually limit my visit to 2 hours. Some restaurants claim to offer free wifi access, but I've found them to be unreliable.

EDIT: The Starbucks down at Wilow Park or at Glenmore Park are the best for doing this. The one at Brittania is too crowded. Not sure what cell data charges are like these days, when I was doing this a couple of years back, it was way cheaper to just pay wifi fees.

[photon]

Yeah I've got a Starbucks card and I get 2 hours of free Wifi a day with it. It's more sitting there taking up a table for 2 hours that I feel guilty about, even if I'm buying something.

Thanks Locke I'll check it out, though I doubt they're open at 9am.

[starseed]

I was in Chinook a couple of days ago, and I was looking for free wifi, but all I could find was that Rogers hot spot.

It is way out of your way, but the last time I went to the airport, they had signs saying they have free wifi throughout. Maybe if you need to, you could pull a Tom Hanks.

[flambers]

How about Chapters...

[Locke]

Originally Posted by photon

Thanks Locke I'll check it out, though I doubt they're open at 9am.

I dunno...they serve breakfast...

[photon]

Mmm, to have breakfast would be a good thing too! I'll check it out!

[Ruttiger]

Mount Royal College is a short drive west on Glenmore and has wireless hotspots all over the place. As an added bonus - Tim Horton's and college "scenery" abound.