13-miles of the River Thames has been turned into a free Wi-Fi hotspot, and according to those involved it's the largest free metropolitan Wi-Fi network in Europe.

The service has been provided by free-hotspot.com and MeshHopper and covers from Millbank right down to Greenwich, and also includes blanket coverage for St Katharine's Dock and St Mary's Quay. It also stretches into bars, restaurants and hotels that line the riverbank, which users may want to use rather than paying for access from BT or expensive hotel Wi-Fi.

The catch is that it's partially funded by advertising, but surfers are only required to w this should be enough atch 15-30 seconds of advertising to gain 15 minutes for free access. Although the download speed is only 256Kbps this should be ample unless people want to download large files, and then a faster paid service is available without adverts.