Hi everyone,

So, while I was a student in the US I spent a lot of time around different coffee shops with my laptop, got a fair bit of work done, and enjoyed the social scene that came with those places. Have yet to find something similar in Zurich

Ideally I'm looking for a coffee shop type place (other than Starbucks!) that has WiFi, preferably free but I'll pay for it if I must. Having a place to plug in the laptop would be nice, but not required. I live in Kreis 6, so preferably somewhere around the center of Zurich although I'd travel for the right place. A while back I figured out Ratthaus Cafe has wireless, but in the evening, when I'm most likely to be there, the place turns more into a bar than a cafe, which is not ideal for getting work done, plus I'd rather not be the only dork with the laptop.

Any ideas, suggestions? Thanks!

I would say that a cafe is not an ideal place to get work done either
Unless you class chit chat as work
Anyway"s" I would be interested to know if the N.American phenomenon of taking laptops to Startbucks type of places is catching on in CH/Europe. I might come and join you and do some chit chat...I mean "work"

Hi,

I don't live in Zurich, but I've found this site quite useful. you might be able to find somewhere near one of these hotspots ..
http://www.freespots.ch/

Sam.

Starbucks at Stauffacher has it.

I thought he said

Well, somebody else might find the information useful.

You never know. There's a pasta place on Universitätstrasse that serves coffee and offers free W Lan. They have a big sofa as well.

There is a place in Zürich Hauptbahnhof where it used to be free a few months back. "Imagine" I think...

Kittster: the Hot Pasta place? Interesting.. I'm there very often for lunch or just coffee, since I work across the street

SamC: Thanks, I'll check that out.. .plus free is always good.. .

In general, I found that my ratio of work to chitchat is about 1:1 after I've been going to a coffee shop for a while and gotten to know the other regulars, and I'm fine with that. I used it to suplement the time I spent working during the day and to justify (mostly to myself) showing up to work late

I've found several hotspot listings, but so far failed to find a place to that fits the description above... I'm even considering resorting to Starbucks... grrr..

ok, this is a cool thread, but i wish that there were actually more answers... there doesnt seem to be all that many cool cafes with free wifi, huh?

its a young and hip place, called superzero, which is just behind central.... the street with the good film rental store which leads to the ZB library. they have free wifi. problem is though that they sometimes have erratic opening hours... they say they are open sunday, but sometimes ive been there and its closed.

ah, very cool, that sounds promissing, i'll check it out and report back.

in the mentime, a friend also recommended a place in the same neighborhood. if i understood him correctly, it should be on Spitalgasse, somewhere right next to Barfüsser.

but yeah, i was hoping for more response too... anyone else... anyone.. anyone... Bueller? :-)

http://www.wardriving.ch/hpneu/news/cont/map2.png

dave

haha, i think i see my own network on that map.

on the tram with a wifi-enabled PDA travelling from near where DaveA lives to Sihlstrasse - there are around 200 wireless access points with about 40% running any type of security.

Note that this was using a WM2003 OS and thus would not sniff out the "super secure" <snigger> hidden SSIDs

can you get good coffee on that tram?

very happy to have found this thread. having lived in a US college town (PennState) for 2 years, non-starbucks wifi coffee shops is arguably what I miss most about my previous life. Where is one to do not-too-demanding weekend-work in this city?
I've heard that Plusch (Aemtlerstrasse right by Zwinglihaus) has free Wifi, haven't been inside, but it looks like a nice place. I like Casablanca in the Langstrasse a lot too, has free wifi too and I've even detected someone with a laptop there a couple of times. And Canal Grande (Limmatquai) is supposed to be a cool place too. Non of these places have the real 'working spirit' though, as far as I know. Maybe we should build a critical mass and turn one of them in the right place?
v

Hey guys,

Squeeze, the juice bar has free WiFi... For those of us who like comfy sofas try upstairs Be aware though there is unfortunately not too much space. But they do make lovely juices and coffee...

Squeeze is near Kreuzplatz.. on googling it I cam across this site http://www.swiss-hotspots.ch/index.c...desc&start=201
which might be exactly the info you're looking for

An old thread that is, which I just happened to stumble upon accidentally, searching for Zwinglihaus... But a known concept and now that I think of all the typical distraction scenarios, probably not a bad one - at times I'd even try it myself.

It definitely feels like an atypical style in Zurich, with the cold local business mentality. But I imagine that there are places with a suitable atmosphere for it. I am curious though, with this kind of customers taking up a table for several hours with two cups of coffee not being commonplace here, how do you think coffee shops' attitudes to this would be?

When I occasionally meet with someone in a café or bar over a cup or drink, it happens that after an hour and a half of conversation you get the feeling of being a bit unwelcome at the place. Most places are fine to this extent though - it's of course not a good way to make your place likeable (unless you are packed, missing orders from a customers lined up waiting, in which case I'd not feel polite staying so long), and naturally affects my habits of coming back to the place but I guess it is greatly affected by culture.

Cheers,
-- Tom

I don't feel unwelcome when staying a bit longer at my favorite WLAN cafe, which by the way is located at Zwinglihaus:

Public Wifi Hotspots/cafés

However if the bar is very crowded, I'd not feel very comfortable.

NZZ Bistro (by Tibits) has free wi-fi, and they are very easygoing