It’s easy to get sucked into the habit of heading for the nearest McDonald’s or Starbucks when you need to find a Wi-Fi hotspot but at $5 to $10 per connection, this quickly becomes expensive. Why pay latte prices for Wi-Fi when you can get it for nothing?

Free public hotspots are proliferating in city parks, libraries, independent coffee shops, universities, and airports (including those in Las Vegas, Orlando, and Sacramento). The problem is finding free hotspots when you’re offline. The solution: Download hotspot directories before you travel.

Free hotspot locators are available from AnchorFree and JiWire. AnchorFree has a version for iPods, and both companies let you access their online directories from cell phones using a WAP browser.

Alternatively, you can use Wi-Fi Finder.