Spectrum Offers Free Wi-Fi to 90,000 Access Points Following Hurricane Helene

Spectrum is providing 90,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama to residents affected by Hurricane Helene. Charter Communications announced the free Wi-Fi hotspots on Wednesday, the same day it announced a $1 million donation to aid Hurricane Helene relief efforts.

90,000 Wi-Fi access points will be located in public areas (such as parks or city streets) and will operate until Oct. 7. You can find an access point near you with Spectrum’s Out-of-Home Wi-Fi map.

Spectrum is not the only major Internet service provider offering Hurricane Helene relief services. Starlink also announced plans to work with the federal government to provide free satellite internet to all hurricane-affected communities for a month.

Hurricane Helene, which hit Florida on September 26, devastated many communities there rural towns already has limited access to a decent internet connection.

Following the storm, thousands of homes were cut off by internet and cell phone outages. According to the Federal Communications Commission, as of Tuesday, North Carolina’s Mitchell and Yancey counties still had 90% of cell service down. Cell phone and internet service is slowly coming back online in some affected communities.

In addition to the Wi-Fi access points, Spectrum also announced that it will work with “state and local agencies to provide temporary connectivity to relief and shelter areas where possible.”