I'm writing this column from the cute Wall Street Cafe in Grass Valley, California, where I've come with my wife for a working weekend (she's playing a concert, I'm catching up on e-mail). The cafe staff is charming, the coffee is excellent, the place is nearly deserted on this Sunday morning, and best of all, the wireless access is free and fast.

Grass Valley is a town of 11,000 people. There's some tech business here but also a lot of retirees and a steady stream of tourists. In other words, it is hardly a high-tech mecca. Yet this little cafe offers free Wi-Fi, an amenity that even the most high-end, technically advanced cities don't offer, and one that many ultraexpensive locations make you pay extra for.

For example, a few weeks ago, on a business trip that landed me in a superlux resort hotel in Arizona, I found myself paying $15 a day for in-room network access, in a room that already cost $335 a night. That's just ridiculous.

And in an ironic twist, a month before that, I was reading a newspaper in the jurors' waiting room in the San Francisco courthouse, across the street from City Hall. I saw an article about how Mayor Gavin Newsom was pledging to bring free Wi-Fi to the city center. But sitting on the table in front of me were instructions for connecting to Wi-Fi in the waiting room--at $9.95 a day.

I could go on with the list of Wi-Fi injustices visited upon us. And that's the problem. While in some places Wi-Fi is treated as an amenity--like air conditioning or indoor plumbing--in other locations it's seen as a luxury. Ultimately, I believe the market will correct this, and Wi-Fi will be free--as it is in my house, in the CNET offices (even for visitors), and in the Wall Street Cafe. But as a person who travels with a laptop a lot and who doesn't like paying multiple dollars per minute for Wi-Fi, I need to accelerate this move. I think we all do. Here's what we can do to help.

1. Make Wi-Fi free where you can
In your workplace--even in your house--open up Wi-Fi access to visitors. It's a nice thing to offer, and your guests might find it useful. And free Wi-Fi doesn't mean totally unsecured Wi-Fi, either. For example, you can get a Wi-Fi access point, such as the D-Link DSA-3100, that lets you offer a portion of your broadband bandwidth to visitors, while locking them out of the rest of your network.

The more free Wi-Fi there is, the less we'll need paid services.

2. Don't patronize places that make you pay
Or if you must, at least complain loudly about it. Cafes, hotels, and other businesses that make you pay for Wi-Fi are missing the point. Wireless access is incredibly cheap to offer, so trying to gouge customers and visitors for access is just mean.

Yes, hotel owners, I understand that you're trying to make up for revenue lost from your usurious telephone charges, now that everyone uses cell phones for all their calls. But come on, those fees were ridiculous, too. When your guests pay for a room, the idea is that they are paying for the infrastructure. Try charging them for running water, air conditioning, or clean sheets and see what happens.

3. Where there's paid Wi-Fi, look elsewhere for free solutions
Many businesses that offer paid Wi-Fi exist in Wi-Fi-dense environments where there might just be a free signal nearby. Get a good Wi-Fi signal scanner (I use Netstumbler) to find open access points. The signal might not be as strong as the one on the cafe's ceiling, but at least you won't have to pay through the nose to use it.

Note that if you use unknown access points, you really need a good software firewall, such as our Editors' Choice pick from Trend Micro. You can also learn more about firewalls in our course, Firewall Basics.

4. Get political
Wi-Fi may soon be supplied by your local municipality. There are strong arguments for and against this proposition. Not surprisingly, local phone companies oppose it, while some city officials feel it's as crucial to an economy's growth as good roads. If you feel strongly about it, educate yourself on the issues (I recommend Muniwireless.com and the Muni Wi-Fi section of Wi-Fi Net News) and take action. Send e-mail--but not from a paid Wi-Fi location.

Wi-Fi has value, but that doesn't mean we should pay through the nose for it. It's up to all of us to help make it ubiquitous.

Have you experienced a ridiculous Wi-Fi access charge? What did you do about it? Talk back!