hotspot

A location where with a sufficiently strong signal from an accessible Wi-Fi wireless LAN (WLAN). Many thousands of public hotspots are available in the United States and many developed countries. Most hotspots are made available through for-profit companies that charge on a daily or monthly basis, although municipalities increasingly deploy free public Wi-Fi networks as a public service. Companies and individuals often unknowingly offer public hotspots by failing to activate Wi-Fi security options provided in 802.11i, more commonly known as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). See also 802.11i, Wi-Fi, WLAN, and WPA.