Free access to WiFi hotspots

We recently ran a WiFi access beta to gather feedback from our members and fine tune the service. Thank you to everyone who contributed. We still welcome all feedback as we continue this journey, but thought it was time to spread the news a bit wider.

WiFi Hotspots Access

Our members are now able to access WiFi at stations and platforms on the London Underground, with WiFi provided by Virgin Media. We’re also teaming up with O2 to provide access to around 8,000 secure hotspots around the UK. Both of these are absolutely free, and members will be able to opt in and out as they wish.

How do I get set-up?

Getting set-up is easy:

Download the latest version of the 'My giffgaff' app
Open the menu and choose 'WiFi Extra'
Press to turn on or install settings (slightly different depending on operating system)

The service may not work on all phones (see our guide for more details).

How does it work?

Once you’re all set up on the app, if you come in range of a hotspot, you may automatically connect to the WiFi there. We say “may”, as various checks go on in the background to check the strength of the WiFi connection. If the hotspot is congested or the signal is weak, you may not automatically connect. As with most non-personal WiFi services, the data speeds can vary.

These WiFi hotspots can be thought of as an extension to the normal O2 network. You can’t manually choose to connect to the hotspots, it all happens behind the scenes. It’s worth checking out our guide for more details.

WiFi is something that can provide a real boost for members, so we’ll continue to try and make this service the best it can be. We’ll work to make sure more and more members can benefit from this in the future (including those unable to access the giffgaff app), and will stay on the lookout for more opportunities for our members (with free ones always being the best!)

Thanks all

Gary

giffgaff Product Owner

Message 1 of 134

by: davidevans0000
on: 09/10/2017 | 10:52

cheers @gary_1989 i once tried to use o2 wifi it was a nightmare they wanted my life story hope things have changed now for the better.

Message 2 of 134

by: as7861
on: 09/10/2017 | 10:57

Hi @gary_1989,

Awesome news on releasing it to the wider community. One question, will this be advertised more widely for next step ? for example on the website ?

- Amer

Message 3 of 134

by: loyalistdan
on: 09/10/2017 | 11:11

Any extra wifi sounds good to me

Message 4 of 134

by: premierphotosuk
on: 09/10/2017 | 11:14

@gary_1989 This is better much much better news now that more gaffers around the UK will benefit and not just London.

It's great to see improvements like these coming in. Great work guys

It's always a positive move and this is definitely another one

On now in the photography board. Join in here Let's see and share some of your favourite animals. August challenge.

Message 5 of 134

by: rajik
on: 09/10/2017 | 13:28

Great news . Ive installed this on my phone now

Message 6 of 134

by: mark1101b
on: 09/10/2017 | 13:54

Done and switched On... I will let you jnow how it goes @gary_1989

Message 7 of 134

by: koshka
on: 09/10/2017 | 15:26

As a non app user I initially thought I was missing out until I realised that as a Virgin media customer with the O2 app, I'm not.

Message 8 of 134

by: dan240997
on: 09/10/2017 | 15:35

Already tried this and it's great, but what I found is that it's only where some existing O2 hotspots are, like McDonalds etc, if it can be introduced more widespread that'd be great like a town centre (BT sometimes does this in areas but I question how secure it is)

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Message 9 of 134

by: django21
on: 09/10/2017 | 15:43

Used O2 before and had mixed results. So might have a test run with this new one.

Message 10 of 134