By: MarkJ - 8 January, 2010 (9:14 AM) - Score: 3151 - Wi-Fi, Security, Statistics

WeFi, a free wireless Wi-Fi broadband Hotspot locator website with a database of 47,000,000 access points around the world, has revealed that 40% of Hotspots in the USA are unlocked and do not require a security password. This compares with 25% in Europe.

According to WeFi’s data, a traveler would find a higher percentage of open hotspots in countries such as Thailand, Israel, Brazil, Argentina and the Bahamas as compared with both the US and Europe. Across the world, approximately 30% of recorded Wi-Fi access points are unlocked, while some 70% are locked

Within Europe, out of the Top 10 countries in terms of Wi-Fi deployment, WeFi reveals that the most "Wi-Fi friendly countries" are Belgium and Norway, while the highest percentage of locked access points can be found in Germany and Spain.


Interestingly WeFi appears to measure the Wi-Fi "friendly" nature of countries by whether or not their access points have been secured, which seems a little bizarre, especially given the current legal (illegal downloads etc.) and general risks (hackers etc.) of running an open network.