Find free Wi-Fi near you and connect in seconds.
Your data plan ran out at the worst possible time: you need to solve something right now and your phone is just displaying a white screen. The solution is usually just a few blocks away — but nobody puts up signs indicating where there's an open network.
There is a large network of free public Wi-Fi in Brazil, much of it maintained with public funds precisely for those in this situation. The federal digital inclusion program has already reached... more than 2,600 municipalities, with free spaces in squares and public buildings.
Public square with open network
The federal program installs free access points in public squares, without registration or password requirements, prioritizing regions without operator coverage.
The buildings that almost always have
Municipal libraries, CRAS (Social Assistance Reference Centers), UBS (Basic Health Units), and service centers usually make their Wi-Fi networks available to those who are on-site.
Businesses are trading Wi-Fi for in-person presence.
Cafes, shopping malls, and fast-food chains offer free Wi-Fi in the hope that you will buy something. It's the oldest agreement on public internet access.
Open networks require three precautions.
On public Wi-Fi, traffic passes through an environment you don't control. Three simple habits eliminate almost all the risk.
Why does free public internet exist?
It's not a courtesy: it's a digital inclusion policy. Since 2002, the federal government has maintained a program that brings satellite broadband to places where no operator has yet reached, in two formats — access points within public institutions and free access points in public squares.
Add to that the networks that the city government, businesses, and transportation terminals offer on their own, and the map of free connectivity in an average city is much larger than it seems.
What do you take away from the guide?
The correct order to search
The places with the highest chance of having an open network, from the city center to the neighborhood, in order of probability.
When it connects but nothing opens.
The most common problem with public Wi-Fi has a solution in two taps — and almost nobody knows it.
What you should never open on a public network
The rule without exception, and the reason it exists.
Frequently Asked Questions
In public squares, it's usually not the case. In retail and transportation, there's almost always a quick registration process with email or phone number.
It's best not to. For banking and shopping, use your mobile data, even if only for two minutes. It's the only rule in this guide that doesn't allow for exceptions.
It's almost always the login screen that doesn't appear. The guide shows the double-tap trick that forces it to open.
It works well for messaging, maps, email, and browsing. High-resolution videos and large downloads tend to suffer because the bandwidth is divided among all of them.
The guide to the side lists places that almost always have open Wi-Fi networks, what to do when the connection doesn't open, the three rules of security, and why apps that promise to reveal other people's network passwords are a problem.
Open the full guide