LinkNYC

What is it:

LinkNYC has nearly 2,000 installed kiosks across all 5 boroughs of New York the provide free hyper-fast internet. The project started as a way to replace the aging and often decrepit public phone booths in New York.

How to connect:

Connecting to a link is surprisingly easy; when near a Link, simply look for the ‘LinkNYC Free Wi-Fi’ network and hit connect. Once your phone connects, the captive portal screen shows up where you will be prompted for an email. Once you have successfully connected and signed-up, your phone should automatically connect anytime you are near a kiosk. LinkNYC provides a map to see all of the link locations

Features:

Each kiosk provides gigabit Wi-Fi and is equipped with two USB ports for charging and a tablet for access to city services and free calling. The tablet on the side of the kiosk gives access to a limited internet connection for city services and maps. The tables can be used for free calling anywhere in the US including 311, 911, and 411 services. There is also an emergency button for calling 911.

Safety concerns:

Link is pretty upfront that they make their money off of the advertising on the kiosks. They even explain what information they collect from Wi-Fi connections in their FAQ section.

I also appreciate that LinkNYC makes sure to note that the provided USB charging ports are for power only and are not able to collect any data for devices (link).

Thoughts:

More than a lot of other free services people use, Link NYC feels like a fair trade; a bit of customer habit information in exchange for super fast internet. A day in New York City can be a drain on both your phone’s battery and data plan.

At the time of this writing, over 1,700 LinkNYC kiosks have been installed with the goal to reach 7,500 in the coming years. The kiosks have a sleek, simple design that is intended to blend in with the city for the most part, being just iconic enough so as to be easy to spot. The system clearly works because I now look for the kiosks and probably subliminally absorb the add on the screen. I have at times, changed my route to walk along the streets with the links as long as possible.

Connecting to the system is surprisingly easy; just click connect and give an email address. One gripe that I have is that "private connection" which is more secure is only available on a few select devices and versions of IOS. I am not sure if this is the fault of Apple or LinkNYC. As of this writing, it can only run on iOS version below 11.4.

When I first used the system was able to use the private connection. As much as I don’t like the idea of ha it goes to install a profile on my phone, I find it better than the potential risk of the alternative. Since the system is so widespread, someone could easily create a fake link with the same name an collect all of the information passing through, much like the “stingrays” used on cellphone networks.

If you still want to be able to take advantage of the WiFi sometimes the best thing you can do is to connect to the link and sign-in for the first time but switch the “auto join” option in the details of your phone's Wi-Fi setting page. This way you can connect by selecting the network in settings which gets rid of the risk of your phone automatically connecting to a fake link, however it is much less convenient. The only solution to preventing concerns about LinkNYC snooping on your internet traffic is to use a VPN to hide your activity. Although at that point you lose much of the convenience and anyone that concerned with security may want to avoid using the system altogether. As far as I am concerned, I would probably trust connecting to a LinkNYC hotspot more than most Starbucks and local coffee shops.

To lean more about LinkNYC visit their site: www.link.nyc

For problems connect see their extensive FAQ section: www.link.nyc/faq