In researching the Philadelphia outdoor hotzone article, I looked at NYCwireless and subsequently found The Wireless Node Database Project called NodeDB.com. This site began as an attempt to document public access WiFi in Sydney, Australia, but was expanded to attempt to cover the world.
NYCwireless has their nodes listed on NodeDB, but many other public access WiFi sites in the United States are not there. For instance, there’s nothing listed in New Jersey that’s outside the New Jersey – New York area. The most expansive definition of that area is the northern third of the state.
I haven’t been wardriving lately, but, there have to be some public access WiFi nodes south of Exit 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike. I talked about a public access point in downtown Princeton here on Operation Gadget. It’s at the Panera on Nassau Street. I’m sure other parts of the country are represented just as poorly.
If you are operating a WiFi hotspot that anyone can use for free, do the community a favor and create an entry for it in NodeDB.