Editing Wi-Fi hotspot (section)

==Uses==
The public can use a [[laptop]] or other suitable portable device to access the wireless connection (usually [[Wi-Fi]]) provided. The iPass 2014 interactive map, that shows data provided by the analysts Maravedis Rethink, shows that in December 2014 there are 46,000,000 hotspots worldwide and more than 22,000,000 roamable hotspots. More than 10,900 hotspots are on trains, planes and airports (Wi-Fi in motion) and more than 8,500,000 are "branded" hotspots (retail, cafés, hotels). The region with the largest number of public hotspots is Europe, followed by North America and Asia.<ref name=ipas-map>{{cite web |title=IPass Wi-Fi Growth Map |url=http://www.ipass.com/wifi-growth-map/ |publisher=ipass.com |access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref>

Libraries throughout the United States are implementing hotspot lending programs to extend access to online library services to users at home who cannot afford in-home Internet access or do not have access to Internet infrastructure. The [[New York Public Library]] was the largest program, lending out 10,000 devices to library patrons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nypl.org/hotspot|title=Library HotSpot|publisher=The New York Public Library}}</ref> Similar programs have existed in Kansas,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kslib.info/1107/MiFi-Pilot|title=MiFi Pilot 2 (Borrow the Internet @ your library) |publisher=Kansas State Library, KS}}</ref> Maine,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.maine.gov/msl/libs/grant_projects/washington_county_wifi_grant.shtml|title=Check-out the Internet Project, Washington County |publisher=Maine State Library}}</ref> and Oklahoma;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.okstate.edu/articles/agricultural-sciences-natural-resources/2018/stotts_extension_library_mobile_hotspots.html|title=OSU, public libraries working together to bridge 'digital divide' in rural Oklahoma 
|date=6 June 2018 
|publisher=Oklahoma State University}}</ref> and many individual libraries are implementing these programs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailyyonder.com/borrowing-the-internet-library-program-lets-patrons-take-access-home/2017/01/11/17079/|title='Borrowing' the Internet: Library Program Lets Patrons Take Access Home |last=Schrubbe|first=Alexis|website=Daily Yonder|date=11 January 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-06-13}}</ref>

[[Wi-Fi positioning system|Wi-Fi positioning]] is a method for [[geolocation]] based on the positions of nearby hotspots.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|publisher = ACM|date = 2015-01-01|location = New York, NY, USA|isbn = 978-1-4503-3542-3|pages = 269–282|series = SIGCOMM '15|doi = 10.1145/2785956.2787487|first1 = Manikanta|last1 = Kotaru|first2 = Kiran|last2 = Joshi|first3 = Dinesh|last3 = Bharadia|first4 = Sachin|last4 = Katti| title=Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Special Interest Group on Data Communication | chapter=SpotFi |s2cid = 8728165}}</ref>