Until recently, the availability of free or reciprocal WiFi hotspots in the United Kingdom (e.g. Fon / BTWiFi) was not something that one could rely on. So, whilst I've been sharing Internet access via Fon since 2008, my N900 isn't configured to connect to the hotspots that it finds because it hasn't been worth the hassle. As of 2013, this has changed; after a few years of BT's policy of including Fon into its stock routers and opting customers in by default, BTWiFi hotspots can be found within reach of many/most residential dwellings (in London at least).

Still, having the N900 connect to them automatically remains a nuisance. At best, we log on to a network that requires manual authentication to proceed further, knocking the phone offline. At worst, we log on to open networks simply because they're there and not because we intended to, which is a waste of battery and a real nuisance when travelling. How do we fix this, so that using public hotspots becomes a viable proposition from an N900? What do we need to take into account?

Obviously we need some sort of auto-login functionality, akin to autowifi, but we need it to work well for the typical user of a N900, which means we don't want it to interfere with the use of private wireless networks, and we don't want it to interfere with the use of 3G unless we're in a situation where that is going to be helpful - perhaps this is quite a tall order.

Before trying to hack up anything, I'd welcome some input from other seasoned N900 users. Should we do this as a "one-shot" manual connection script that bypasses (and leaves untouched) the N900 settings, configures the wireless interface manually, automates the login, and (optionally) loads a browser pointed to the logout page? In other words: hit the Fon button when desired and the phone does the rest.

Should we favour a fully automated approach, where we do configure the hotspot SSID in the N900 such that it connects automatically and logs in automatically? If so, how shall we have it do this only when we wanted it to? Perhaps perform a manual scan, and only activate the auto-login for APs with a pre-approved MAC address? Might be useful for having it only work automatically in particular locations against particular hotspots.

Perhaps both of the above; a "suck-it-and-see" script that searches for a BTWiFi connection, and keeps a list of "good APs" and "bad APs" based on successful connection, plus auto-connect ability either for known-good APs or for whatever's available.

I'd also like to hear some international perspectives on this; I'm thinking about what's available in London, but it should not be any different, in principle, to support comparable hotspot networks in other countries. Please comment on what is available locally to you, whether you're interested in improving automated access to it, and how you might see that working...