The first foray into WiFi from McDonald's was in 2005, when select retail locations had WiFi service for Nintendo DS video games. It has now utilized by millions of people who hop onto the network to do some surfing or video watching with their meal. For several years the food chain initially charged customers to use the WiFi service. In January 2010, free wifi at McDonald's started to be implemented in several stores.
How To Connect To Free Wifi at McDonald's
You will need a device that can connect with the radio frequency used by the free WiFi McDonald's. Most locations will use a 2.4 GHz wireless network, the standard that is slowly being supplemented with 5 GHz frequency. 2.4 GHz wireless networks are easy to implement and maintain since equipment and hardware are cost-effective. Most modern smartphones, tablets, and laptops will be able to take advantage of the 2.4 GHz radio frequency. Older devices may not have a built in WiFi antenna. If your laptop does not have one, your local computer store may sell them. The external antenna will allow you to connect to Free WiFi at McDonald's.
In addition to checking if your device is compatible with WiFi networks and frequencies, you may want to check if a particularly McDonald's restaurant offers WiFi Even though most populated areas will most likely have the service enabled, more rural locations may not have WiFi. You can visit the "Free WiFi at MCDonalds" page and enter the zip code of the area that you are visiting to see if local restaurants offer WiFi.
On your phone, tablet, or laptop, click on your network list and look for the McDonald's WiFi In most places, the Free WiFi at McDonald's will be named "AT&T" or "McDonalds WiFi"
How To Protect Yourself Which Using McDonald's WiFi
Even though these networks are popular and accessible, it's important to note that they are public WiFi networks and insecure by definition. Take up the habit of only surfing for information when connected to the Free WiFi at McDonald's. Do not do online shopping, open private emails, or visit sensitive websites when on a public WiFi network. If it is important that you do so, then make sure that the site you're visiting is using encryption protocol. You'll know if a website is secure by locating the padlock icon in the URL box, or if the site starts with a Https://. The "s" stands for secure - rest assured that the website is using encryption services to protect your information.
When using Free Wifi at McDonald's:
- Make sure to contact a particular store and confirm that they have free WiFi at McDonald's.
- Turn off sharing on your laptops. You may share sensitive information like wireless printer information and files in your home's WiFi - turn these features off before connecting to a public network. You can do so in your laptop's control panel.
- Make sure that you're using a firewall. A firewall will monitor outbound and inbound data streams when connected to the free WiFi at McDonald's, ensuring that the information in the stream and its origin are from viable sources, free from prying eyes.
Thousands of McDonald's locations have free WiFi as part of the public, you are free to use it as you see fit - as long as you do so safely.
