After a few problems connecting a Mac to the net in Russia, I was thinking of getting this tattooed on my forehead.

But now I learn that Wi-Fi is more common in Eastern Europe than I thought. I was told, ‘You really should get out more’.

What they probably meant was, I should eat out more. It is apparent that blogging on and pigging out have become recognised, co-dependent bodily functions - to the extent that Yandex is window stickering wireless Russian restaurants. Already it lists some 210 Wi and Dine establishments in Moscow and venues are queuing up to be Yandex indexed in St Petersburg. List is here.

Bear in mind, though, that Wi-Fi doesn’t always mean ‘free to air’ as in ‘gratis’. Some restaurants give you free access to certain service providers but you need an account with them already to log on. Or you need a credit card to buy online time. No such thing as a free to air lunch?

When you’re not hungry, however, or just short of cash, other international directories to check out for public access are the Wi-Fi Hotspotslist and Wi-Finder. Intel also maintains a list of Russian Hotspots, though all such lists are probably not updating as fast as the market is expanding.

A recent post at Wu Wei about wireless at Ukraine’s Borispol airport met with some disbelief. Certainly real Wi-Fi activity in the FSU is only recent. A 2003 market study observed that the penetration of notebooks in Russia was just 6% - hardly a great incentive for operators.

In the Baltic States you’ll often be better served with free Wi-Fi than in Russia, like at Tallinn airport and in the upstairs cafe at Stockmann’s department store. A good directory for Estonia is www.wifi.ee. This is a real enthusiasts site where people post glamorous pictures of radio masts and transponders. Usefully it also lists over 40 hotspots in Latvia. Once again, many of these are restaurants, so don’t forget to book a table near a wall socket.