From Mount Fuji to donkeys in Israel - the weirdest places that have Wi-Fi

Your home Wi-Fi might annoy you when it constantly drops its connection, and while you might complain about changing provider, it’s never bad enough to get you to pack up and head for better climes and internet connection.

Or is it?

But why pop into the local café when you can go all out and tap into the free Wi-Fi in one of these unexpected places?

Mount Fuji

Standing at over 12,000 feet tall, Mount Fuji is a tricky climb. With free Wi-Fi, you can celebrate each step of the way with a Facebook status, a selfie on Instagram, or a live-tweet session about how sore your feet are as you ascend the mighty mountain.

While it’s probably not a good place to work on that novel you’ve always dreamed of or to take stylistic pictures of your coffee, you are in for plenty of gorgeous scenic shots. But why is there free Wi-Fi in Fuji?

The Japanese newspaper, the Asahi Shimbum, quoted officials at the Yamanashi tourism board that “We hope people will use the service not only to tell about the attractions of Mount Fuji […] but also to obtain weather and other information.”

There’s also the very real option of using the connection to call for help if a climber is in trouble and out of range of a phone signal. At 12,000 feet, it could be a literal life-saver as well as a spot for scenic Instagram photos.

Eight locations on Fuji have been equipped with Wi-Fi hotspots as well as kitting out cottages and facilities around the summit with connectivity. However, don’t expect free Wi-Fi from the still-active volcano forever, as the connection is only free for 72 hours.

Strange as it may seem, Fuji isn’t even the tallest mountain with Wi-Fi, as Everest has been at the peak of connectivity (see what we did there?) since 2010. Connectivity stops at 17,000 feet up, so you’ll have to wait to post your selfies until halfway down.

The North Pole

Yes, there’s Wi-Fi in the North Pole. In fact, the North Pole was quite forward-thinking and has had connectivity since 2005. Two adventurous Intel employees were responsible for setting up the connection, about 80km from the North Pole itself.

Why does the North Pole need Wi-Fi? Well, we’re sure Santa and Mrs Clause have gotten great use out of it, although the extremely cold conditions means that computers don’t often work there. We can’t imagine that explorers on an adventure stop for too many selfies either—if only because de-gloving would very quickly lead to frostbitten fingers in January’s -43 degree weather.

Mostly, the hotspot is used by explorers and research teams on expeditions in the Arctic Circle. We also hear that Happy Feet is quite popular with the penguin population. 
 

Space

Well, if connectivity is an option in the North Pole and on Mount Everest, why shouldn’t it be available in space too?

While Niall Armstrong had to make do without Wi-Fi, astronauts have it much easier today. After a hard day collecting rock samples or studying magnetorheological fluids, they can kick back and watch their favourite TV shows in the International Space Station.

Their internet connection isn’t actually that fast, with an average of 10MBs download speeds and 3MBs upload speeds—which puts it on par with the average house in the UK. In case you’re wondering, the Mars Rover is encumbered with a far slower connection and can only hit 250Kbps—though NASA is currently working on faster internet.

In the future, expect the Space Station’s internet to be laser-powered and hit massive speeds of 622MBs—faster than anywhere else in the world.

You might even say the connection will be…out of this world.

Donkey hotspots

One of Israel’s biggest biblical theme parks, Kfar Kedem, takes visitors back to Galilee life 2,000 years ago, with traditional food, wine and olive pressing…

…and Wi-Fi hotspots attached to the donkeys wandering around.

Does it make sense? Probably not, but it’s definitely an interesting piece of trivia.

Keep safe while connected to public Wi-Fi on Fuji, in space, or your living room

Always keep your devices running at full capacity and free of any nasty malware with trusted antivirus software. And, no matter where you are, if you’re connecting to public Wi-Fi, consider using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) like Norton Secure VPN to help protect the private information you send by masking it from prying eyes, no matter where you are.