In a move designed to get consumers to share the Wi-Fi love, Spanish startup FON is giving away free wireless routers today in San Francisco.

The routers are part of an event FON has dubbed Freedom Friday, and their giveaway from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the city’s Union Square is meant to encourage people who pay for Wi-Fi to share their connections with others. On the FON Web site, FON dubs itself “the largest Wi-Fi community in the world,” and it’s hoping San Francisco residents will join up.

Each FON router supports 802.11g/b and lets users set up two SSIDs so they can partition access with two signals (one for them, and one to be shared with other FON router users).

Those who register and use FON routers can share their access with others and, in return, gain free access to other FON routers they come across. Users can also decide not to share access and pay a daily fee to use others’ routers.

Already, plans are underway for a municipal Wi-Fi network in San Francisco, but this could be a good solution for the time being—or a possible alternative.

If you’re like us and not currently in San Francisco, you can still get a FON router fairly cheaply. The company sells them for $5 on its Web site.

Price: Free-$5.00
Info: http://en.fon.com