But at 10 a.m. on a recent July morning, and with the mercury still at a comparatively cool 90 degrees, the Utah State University graduate had found a shady spot near the duck pond at Liberty Park to flip open his laptop and connect to the World Wide Web.

"Being between jobs, any place I can find free wireless is good for me," Spaulding said. "And I can only buy so much coffee."

One year after first going wireless, Liberty Park serves about 200 Wi-Fi users a day, according to X-Mission President Pete Ashdown, whose Internet service company paid for the installation of antennas around the park and continues to sponsor the service.

Once found rarely by computer users out of range of coffee shops, hotels or occasional homeowner trusting enough to leave access to their signal unprotected by a password, free wireless Internet hot spots are becoming increasingly omnipresent - and public in Salt Lake City.

In addition to the southern side of Liberty Park (the entire 100-acre park will have wireless coverage in October), X-mission has wired all of Salt Lake City's libraries, Pioneer Park, Gallivan Center and a four-block stretch of downtown.

In total, the city offers Wi-Fi service at more public locations than any other municipality in the state. And Salt Lake City's collective wireless network - comprising all free hot spots from government, business and residences - makes finding a place to log into the Net easier than finding a Starbucks (which offers free wireless only to T-mobile HotSpot customers; others must pay to log on.)

Still, it may be the city of Ogden that beats the state capital to wireless nirvana. Leaders there have come up with an initiative to cover the city's entire 30 square miles in five to seven years "and if technology moves as fast as we hope, it might be three to five years," said Jay Brummett, Ogden's chief technology manager.

"Being digital is important for us," said Brummett, who plans to have the city's entire downtown wired for wireless by the end of this summer. "What we're trying to achieve is a ubiquitous digital infrastructure."

Though X-mission is partnering in that plan, Ashdown said he's unconvinced that blanket wireless projects in larger municipalities like Salt Lake City are the best use of resources. Still, he said, he'd be open to speaking to city leaders about the issue.

"If I did want to implement it citywide, I could do it for much cheaper than these guys are claiming it will cost," Ashdown said, referring to the millions of dollars in public funds being sought by businesses and organizations pushing citywide wireless plans in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and other big cities.

Ashdown said the publicity garnered by the free wireless services currently provided at Liberty Park and elsewhere - the log-in page at each location is essentially an advertisement for his company, he noted - makes up for the expenses he incurs.

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* MATTHEW D. LAPLANTE can be reached at mdlaplante@sltrib.com or 801-2578713.

Etiquette for the wireless mooch

Points of protocol for those taking advantage of free public Wi-Fi:

* If you're at a coffee shop or cafe and the wireless connection is free, buy something. If you stay for longer than an hour, buy something else.

* Carry a power strip. Most public hot spots don't have a lot of available outlets. Be nice and share.

* Didn't bring a power strip? Then don't hog the socket. Charge up just enough for an hour, then cede the plug to someone else.

* Share tables and park benches. And if you're not enjoying the scenery, don't take the one bench overlooking the best part of the park.

* Surfing for music or video? Keep your sound turned down or use headphones.

* Respect the public bandwidth. Avoid downloading too many large files.

* Enjoy porn? Fine. But public hot spots aren't the place to get your fix.

Sources: www.valleywag.com, www.bostonwag.com, Chicago Moms Blog