Denver International Airport could be one of the first airports in the US to offer a public hotspot based on the 802.11n standard, the travel hub's telecoms chief Jim Winston has revealed today. Although the service quietly went live in November, the airport is now using a mixed-mode network that supports the extra speed and range of the draft 802.11n spec while still supporting legacy 11b and 11g users. The new standard also produces the side benefit of helping to spot unwanted networks that could be created by users hoping to compromise the security of nearby passengers.

Unlike most such spots, the service is now free, Winston says. Rather than charge its previous price of $8 per day, the airport now allows access to most devices with a web browser. A video ad appears the first time the user connects, and a persistent ad banner runs while the connection is active. The main Internet connection runs at 10 megabits per second to keep the connection reasonably fast with a significant number of users on the 60 access points spread across the terminal.