Predicting wireless access point availability

A computing device for predicting wireless access point availability, the computing device comprising:

• a hardware processor;
• and
• a data storage device storing instructions that, when executed by the hardware processor, cause the hardware processor to:
• obtain a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) for a first cellular tower to which the computing device is connected;
• determine a tower type for the first cellular tower, the tower type including one of:
• an in-range tower indicating that at least one client device connected to a wireless access point while connected to the in-range tower;
• a border tower indicating that i) at least one client device connected to the border tower subsequent to being connected to an in-range tower, and ii) no client device was previously connected to the border tower while also connected to the wireless access point;
• or
• an out-of-range tower indicating that i) at least one client device connected to the out-of-range tower subsequent to being connected to a border tower or another out-of-range tower, and ii) no client device was previously connected to the out-of-range tower while also connected to the wireless access point;
• determine an RSSI type for the first RSSI, the RSSI type including one of:
• a likely RSSI indicating that at least one client device previously connected to the wireless access point while connected to the first cellular tower with the likely RSSI;
• an unlikely RSSI indicating that at least one client device was previously unable to connect to the wireless access point while connected to the first cellular tower with the unlikely RSSI;
• or
• a new RSSI that has not been previously recorded by a client device while connected to the first cellular tower;
• and
• predict, based on at least one of the tower type or RSSI type, whether the computing device is likely to be able to connect to the wireless access point.

A method for predicting access point availability, implemented by a hardware processor, the method comprising:

• obtaining, for a wireless access point, a mapping for predicting availability of a wireless access point to a client device;
• obtaining, by the client device, a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) from a first cellular tower;
• determining, by the client device and based on the mapping, the first RSSI, and the first cellular tower, to:
• turn on a wireless radio;
• and
• attempt to connect to the wireless access point;
• and
• updating, by the client device, the mapping in response to a successful attempt to connect to the wireless access point by specifying the first RSSI as a likely RSSI for the first cellular tower.