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A hotspot is a wireless access point that has been shared with Linkr. It is the fundamental unit of connectivity on the network.

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What qualifies as a hotspot

Almost any wireless access point can become a Linkr hotspot:
  • A home router with a guest network enabled
  • A phone sharing its cellular connection
  • A dedicated access point at a business
  • An outdoor installation in a public space
The only requirement is that it provides wireless internet access and is shared through the Linkr app.

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What a hotspot record holds

Each hotspot on Linkr carries:
  • A name: how it appears on the map
  • A location: where it physically exists
  • A network type: Wi-Fi, mobile data, or router
  • Access settings: whether it is public, and whether international access is allowed
  • Descriptive fields: signal, security, speed, and a contributor note
The public preview dataset also includes illustrative values such as uptime and rating. See the API schema for the exact shape of a record.

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What makes a hotspot useful

Not all hotspots are equally valuable. The most useful ones tend to be:
  • Available: online when people need them
  • Well-placed: located where connectivity is actually needed
  • Accessible: configured to allow connections

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Lifecycle

A hotspot’s lifecycle in the beta app:
  1. Create: the contributor shares the hotspot in the app
  2. Discover: it appears on the map and in the contributor’s list
  3. Manage: the contributor can toggle its visibility or remove it
Automatic uptime measurement and reliability scoring are on the roadmap. Today the app records what you share; it does not yet monitor hotspots in the background.

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Why hotspots matter

A single hotspot might seem small. But many hotspots, contributed by many participants, create infrastructure that did not exist before.