Show HN: Café Wifi Search

by benguild • 9 years ago

82 49 9 years ago

niklas_a2• 9 years ago

Can also recommend http://instabridge.com. The world's largest wifi sharing community. It's an app so works completely offline.

pqvst• 9 years ago

...säger vd:n :)

rkthkr• 9 years ago

Swedish for: says the CEO...

Gys• 9 years ago

Tried to install on Android but it requires access to my contacts and media plus files ? For finding wifi spots ? No thanks.

StavrosK2• 9 years ago

Yeah, wow. I turned those off as soon as I installed it.

koolba• 9 years ago

How does this list get updated? Do users manually upload the credentials or does it pull them automatically from the currently connected WiFi of the user?

aaronharnly• 9 years ago

As noted by another comment in Swedish, that appears to be your project[1]. I don't see anything in the HN guidelines specifically[2], but I think it's customary to include a disclaimer when recommending one's own project. Just might bear that in mind for next time.

[1] http://agevik.se/about

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

niklas_a2• 9 years ago

Yes! I'm the founder :)

juiced2• 9 years ago

Nice, it would be awesome to be able to sort the cafe's in a city based on their internet connection speed.

juiced2• 9 years ago

Also, how can I get a WifiMask.com ad on your site? :)

Jaruzel• 9 years ago

I'm guessing I can only add places via the app?

I'm currently sitting at my desktop machine, but could easily add at least 5 Cafés with WiFi near Charing Cross in London. However, I don't have an android or iphone, so am unable to contribute.

Maybe letting people log in to the web version and let them add places? (and also maybe bulk uploads, i.e. every Costa and Starbucks has WiFi and it's trivial to get the location data for those stores.)

benguild5• 9 years ago

We're trying to work out the best way to do this now, actually. Just out of curiosity, what kind of computer do you use? Mac/Windows/Linux? What browser?

lucb1e6• 9 years ago

This data is already in OpenStreetMap. Looking around, there are zero places in the Netherlands and I am certain I tagged at least a few places myself so this map is less complete because they want to do it themselves.

It also contains opening hours, addresses, etc., which is all in OSM. I don't understand why people always try to start anew when the data is right there. I can understand there is some complexity in getting your user's contributed data back into OSM and dealing with edit conflicts and abuse, but at least use it as a starting point and see about contributing back later.

(Also, Google Maps is such a confusing map, I hardly even recognize the town I've lived in for 20 years. But that is probably because I'm used to OSM.)

benguild5• 9 years ago

So, I would say it's less about "everywhere" versus highlighting the best places. That's why there's a rating system involved.

qrv3w• 9 years ago

How do you get OSM to display cafes or restaurants?

rakoo• 9 years ago

Depending on who you talk to, OSM means 2 different things:

- For people involved or passionate in the project, OSM is the database. All information is stored there and is available for consumption

- For people outside of the project, OSM is the website displaying the rendered map. As with all rendering, some information is lost, some is put in front.

If you want this information, you can use the overpass API (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API); at higher volumes you may want to get extracts of the db and query it directly, or use a custom renderer to have your own beautiful map with the data you want. Unfortunately there is no way to make the OSM website display specific information on a case-by-case basis.

lucb1e6• 9 years ago

Use a viewer like openstreetmap.org.

SyneRyder7• 9 years ago

It also contains opening hours, addresses, etc., which is all in OSM. I don't understand why people always try to start anew when the data is right there.

It's a while since I played with OSM data for my own prototype, but I found most of the entries were 3 or 4 years out of date, and didn't include anything except a name and GPS co-ordinates. Some didn't even include a name. There was only one entry in my city with opening hours, and that entry didn't differentiate between days of the week. Some entries contained typos, and there was no consistency with naming of chains (eg one person calls it Dome, another Dome Coffee, another The Dome, and another Dome Coffee Fremantle).

In short, OSM was a really bad dataset (at that time) and I found it better to start from scratch.

lucb1e6• 9 years ago

Quality varies a lot, mostly from country to country (at least in western Europe, perhaps on other continents it's more regional). Whatever the quality though, it's a better start than nothing. Why would user data contributed to your application be any better than the user data contributed through OSM? It's a lot easier to edit an invalid property than have a completely blank map and start from scratch.

Also, if projects like these would use OSM (some do, but not all), the quality gets better and it improves for everyone instead of for your specific project.

benguild5• 9 years ago

You're incorrect. This data is not in OSM or elsewhere, it's fragmented.

People have tried to build massive databases of places, yet there are clear gaps in the data all over the place.

Perhaps topic-based apps and data are better. Here's the solution for that, starting with Café Wifi.

If you think one company and site can do everything well, look at what is happening to Facebook.

Doctor_Fegg• 9 years ago

Are user contributions released as open data, or is the idea that users contribute their knowledge freely but the resulting collection is proprietary (aka "crowdserfing")?

SyneRyder7• 9 years ago

Ahh, so you're the one who owns this domain! I worked on prototyping an app with the same name for a while, but ultimately kept it to myself because I saw no promising monetization strategy. There's a lot of competition too, eg coffices.co and thecoffice.biz.

Something I found in my usage was that opening hours were more important to me than WiFi availability, and opening hours often don't match the public data (eg cafes that pack up their chairs an hour before closing). Power outlet availability was also important to me, until I bought an external laptop battery.

Nowadays I tend to use Google searches instead, as Google pays contributors to keep details in their area updated (eg free 1TB Google Drive after a certain number of contributions).

I like that you list actual network speed tests! That seems like a more objective measure than someone's subjective star rating.

Good luck with it!

ValentineC• 9 years ago

Nowadays I tend to use Google searches instead, as Google pays contributors to keep details in their area updated (eg free 1TB Google Drive after a certain number of contributions).

They've removed the 1TB/100GB benefit entirely [1], but they seem to have achieved their goal (of crowdsourcing updates).

[1] https://www.google.com/local/guides/benefits/

tekknolagi2• 9 years ago

Are you serious?? That's the only reason I am where I am. Was just about to reach that benefit :(

mustafabisic1• 9 years ago

I like it. Will use it regularly.

lucianosousa• 9 years ago

https://workfrom.co/ has more data

Demcox• 9 years ago

For some cities maybe, but it really depends.

jedberg• 9 years ago

To OP: You site shouldn't tell me I'm "searching too much" when I zoom the map. :)

I did a search for "Cupertino, CA" and it said there was nothing, so I started zooming in on Cupertino from the world map. After I got to the city level it blocked me.

Otherwise, it looks cool. I like the idea of using an app to get some real time data.

rexreed• 9 years ago

If you're looking for feedback, then happy to provide. Do not take this the wrong way, but instead take this as valid feedback: I don't find this to be useful at all. The data is very limited, there are many other sources of info, the UI is clunky, and in general I think this problem has been solved many times. If you want the feedback, that's what I'm providing.

If you want kudos for the work done, then good job for putting something together.

theoneone• 9 years ago

Not bad for a beta web app! Keep up the good work, it will pay off eventually.

benguild5• 9 years ago

Thanks! Will keep at it.

bradknowles• 9 years ago

Why does the website seem to be a cheap ad whose only purpose is to get you to install the app, which could presumably do anything it wants with your data?

cdvonstinkpot• 9 years ago

So, first impressions:

-From the comments I see you state network speeds, but there's nothing in my current circle so I can't tell if you can lead me to someplace with Verizon FiOS where I can finish a large backup job in a day as opposed to 3 months on cable.

-Can't change my location. Tried dragging the dot & clicking my current spot after searching my city at the top.

-No Android app, so there's the end of my testing.

andrewvmail• 9 years ago

Just wondering whats your stack?

PublicHealth• 9 years ago

Hello, what web stack and technologies are you using for this web app?

Show HN: Café Wifi Search

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