WE spend more time looking at our phone than we do making phone calls and with mobile data not coming cheap it's not surprising that there's been a rise in businesses offering free Wi-Fi to their customers.

Esquires Coffee manager Tina Pethebridge said they not only offered their customers Wi-Fi but phone charging docks at their cafe in Caneland Central.

"I think with the technology nowadays people are always looking for somewhere to get onto the internet," she said.

She said an array of customers took advantage of the free service, from travellers to business people and everyday customers.

New research from Optus My Plan has found Queenslanders were going to great lengths to avoid being surprised by a nasty bill by trying to access free Wi-Fi on their mobiles.

More than half of the people surveyed said they accessed free Wi-Fi on their mobile phone wherever they could, with one in five admitting to switching their phone to their employer's Wi-Fi when at work.

Workers are so used to relying on their employers to save their mobile data allowance, the average employee spends about four hours each week using workplace internet for personal use.

Technology expert and commentator Trevor Long said the first thing people were looking for in a cafe was not coffee, but whether free Wi-Fi was on offer.

"We've all heard stories about people who have received a huge bill for exceeding their data allowance."