I enjoy hanging out at coffee houses with access to free internet, so I can drink coffee and work on my laptop. I've made a list of these places I've found in various cities I've lived in. Note that many Starbucks offer expensive wireless internet service from T-Mobile. The Starbucks shops included in this list are within range of other, free wireless internet services. All references to wireless internet refer to the popular 802.11b "Wi-Fi" 2.4Ghz wireless networking protocol. I've listed coffee houses under each city in roughly my order of preference.
Related information may be found at The Wi-Fi FreeSpot Network home page.
The following are coffee houses with free internet that I've heard about but haven't visited yet:
- Java Moon, 1116 Broadway -- seems to shut down at 3pm
- Wired Coffee & Art -- 19 East Bayaud, down in SoBo
- Taza de Cafe -- 4565 W 44th Ave (44th and Lowell - hours as of Aug 7, 2005: M-Th 7-7, F 7-8, Sa 8-8, Su 8-2)
Monkey Bean
- 10/2004
2470 Broadway, Denver, CO 80205
Neighborhood: Ballpark
This hole-in-the-wall shop in the up-and-coming Ballpark neighborhood is my new favorite coffee house. Here are the highlights:
Tattered Cover Book Store
- 05/2005
1628 16th Street, Denver, CO 80202
Neighborhood: Lower Downtown
The coffee shop area of the Tattered Cover's downtown book store
now has free wi-fi. This coffee shop has the advantage of being
in one of Denver's largest book stores (second only to the Tattered
Cover location in Cherry Creek, I would imagine).
Fluid Coffee Bar (formerly the Bohemian Bean)
- 04/2004 (updated 04/2005)
501 E. 19th Avenue, Denver, CO 80203
Neighborhood: Uptown
The Fluid Coffee Bar offers
free wired and wireless 802.11b (and 802.11g, for what it's
worth) internet access
to customers. Very nice work benches with ethernet ports have
been placed at the windows, so you can enjoy some great 19th
Avenue scenery while working or surfing the web. This coffee
house scores extra points by also having sofas, comfy chairs,
and the laptop bench area.
Even more bonus points are awarded for this coffee house being
only 3 blocks from my apartment. :) Fluid Coffee Bar is open
every day from 7:00am until 10:00pm.
Hooked on Colfax
- 10/2005
3215 E. Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80206
Neighborhood: Bluebird District
Hooked on Colfax is a great new coffee house on East Colfax. It occupies the
same location as the old Armazem coffee house. Here's more information from
the owner:
My husband and I just opened a new coffee shop/bookstore called "Hooked on Colfax" at 3215 E Colfax 80206 and we offer free wi-fi. Here's a blurb about us:This neighborhood coffee shop and book store by the Bluebird Theatre serves up rich Pablo's coffee, spicy Third Street chai, and homemade treats in addition to free WiFi. Their book selection focuses on new fiction and poetry. Local artists' work adorn the walls, and on the weekends you can take a Tarot class. Formerly Armazem, the shop has been re-decorated with plush couches and carved chairs to mirror the era in which the building was built. The basement has been refinished, complete with a large work space - perfect for meetings and study groups. For meeting reservations, call Malissa or Scott at 303-398-BOOK (2665). Open 7am to 10pm every day of the week.
Common Grounds
- 04/2005
1601 17th Street, Denver, CO 80202
Neighborhood: Lower Downtown
This LoDo coffee shop has a great view of the busy
Wazee & 17th intersection, and free 802.11b wireless
internet access. They also have MILKSHAKES.
The Market
- 04/2005
1445 Larimer Street, Denver, CO 80202
Neighborhood: Lower Downtown
The Market now provides free wireless internet. This is
an awesome deli and coffee shop on Larimer Square. And of course,
they get bonus points because they can make MILKSHAKES!
The WashPark Coffee Company
- 11/2002
712 1/2 South Pearl Street, Denver, CO 80209
Neighborhood: Washington Park
This is a great little coffee house in the Washington Park
area. They provide free wireless 802.11b internet access
to customers. I found it a little tricky to get connected
for the first time, though, since their access point does not
advertise its presense. The trick is to set your ESSID to
"wpcoffee". The only negative is this coffee house is not
open late at night.
Paris On The Platte
- 11/2002
1553 Plate Street, Denver, CO 80202
Neighborhood: Lower Downtown / Platte River area
Paris On The Platte provides excellent internet access, with 10-12
wired ethernet ports, plus wireless 802.11b access. They are also
open late at night. The main drawback is this place has poor
ventilation and allows smoking, so the air can get unbreathable
quickly. There is a non-smoking room available until 5:30pm, but
the smoke from the main room can be so thick that the non-smoking
area can get smoky, too.
Peaberry Coffee
- 09/2005
Locations
Peaberry Coffee shops around town have free wi-fi now.
I visited the location at 5070 E. Arapahoe Rd. The downside
is that you have to bug the barista for a username/password.
The login page asks you to
disable popup blockers, Google/Yahoo toolbars, and such. That's not going to happen, but the wireless service seemed to
work fine without putting the laptop into "sucker" mode.
Starbucks - 17th and Stout
- 11/2002
818 17th Street, Space C, Denver, CO 80202
Neighborhood: Central Downtown
This Starbucks is in the Magnolia Hotel building in
Downtown Denver, which is covered with free wireless
internet access provided by Qwest. To use the free
internet service, set your ESSID to "qwestairpublic".
The first time you use this service, you'll need to
fill out a short questionaire. This Starbucks is
open early in the morning and closes early at night.
The weekday hours are 5:00am - 7:00pm. This shop has
lots of nice window seats with great views of the
17th and Stout intersection.
UPDATE (3/4/2003) -- The QwestAir service at the
Magnolia Hotel is now asking for an access code
that the front desk can provide, so the free trial
may now be over.
UPDATE (12/5/2003) -- Randy Harris reports that
the Magnolia Hotel is now charging $7.95 for 24 hours
of access, so I guess there's no more free wireless
service at 17th and Stout.
Witz Coffee
- 04/2004
1489 Steele Street, Denver, CO 80206
Neighborhood: Congress Park
This classy coffee house near the Bluebird Theater has
free 802.11b wireless internet access, great tasting
pastries and coffees, and a baby grand piano.
UPDATE (02/18/2005) -- A web site visitor has informed me
that Witz Coffee closed down this past Wednesday. :(
I don't live in Oxford or Portland anymore, so the following information will likely become outdated.
Uptown Coffee
- 12/2002
265 N. Lamar, Suite G, Bldg 2, Oxford, MS
This excellent and very large coffee shop is located a half
block off the courthouse square, and provides free internet
via scattered wired ethernet ports on the wall. Their router
seems to be misconfigured, however, and periodically kicks
off persistent connections such as instant messaging, ssh,
and such.
Coffee People - Tanasbourne Motor Moka
- 03/2005
2711 NW Town Center Drive, #1, Beaverton, OR 97006
I recently visited the Portland area again, and noticed that
this coffee house now has free wireless internet. They also
have great MILKSHAKES.
Fireside Coffee Lodge
- 10/2002
1223 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97202
This outstanding coffee house is open 24 hours a day during the week.
They close at 4pm Saturday and reopen at 6am on Monday morning.
Free internet is available via 4-5 wired ethernet ports, plus a
PC sitting at a desk. This is the perfect place for late night
internet use.
Heaven Cafe
- 10/2002
SW 10th and Stark, Portland, OR
This downtown coffee house sponsors a
Personal Telco wireless access point, providing free internet
access to the cafe and nearby areas. Set your ESSID to
"www.personaltelco.net" to use. Heaven Cafe is open late.
Starbucks - Park & Clay
- 10/2002
1436 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97201
This Starbucks, in the nice "South Park Blocks" neighborhood,
is within range of the free wireless internet service provided
by Personal Telco.
Set your ESSID to "www.personaltelco.net" to use.
Starbucks - Pioneer Courthouse Square
- 10/2002
This Starbucks is within range of the free wireless internet
service provided by
Personal Telco's popular Pioneer Courthouse Square node.
The main drawback is this place is usually crowded, and the
few seats near power outlets are almost always taken by people
with laptops.
