Man, everywhere we turn it is Wi-Fi madness! Airports are certainly no different in this area as many of us are discovering. Why, just look at Wi-Fi’s latest addition!

For anyone with a laptop computer, what happens in Vegas needn’t stay in Vegas. Visitors waiting for flights out of town can share their exploits over a public wireless LAN in the airport—for free.

Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport next week will officially begin offering complimentary Wi-Fi access to the public. Parts of the network have been operating in test mode for the past several weeks, airport officials said.

By Jan. 4, some 90 percent of the public areas in the airport will be covered by the new wireless local area network, which comprises switches and access points from Aruba Wireless Networks Inc., according to airport officials.

Several regional airports offer free Wi-Fi, but McCarran—among the 15 busiest airports in the world—is the largest to offer the service at no cost to travelers.

Airport officials said they considered charging for the Wi-Fi services the way most major airports do, but could not find any revenue models that seemed fair to passengers.

“This is a little bit uncharacteristic for us, providing something for free,” said Randall Walker, director of aviation for Nevada’s Clark County. “Maybe someday when the market matures and becomes more the business model for cell phones, we might start [charging a fee for Wi-Fi.] But right now, we’re offering it for free because we didn’t like the business models that were available.”