AT&T Officially Lists Wi-Fi Hotspot Access with iPhone Plans

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)


http://images.macrumors.com/article/2008/05/07/235014-wifi.png

AT&T's iPhone website (http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iPhoneCenter.html) (under 'Plans' tab) has been updated to reveal that each iPhone plan now includes access to their "more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, including Starbucks all for use in the U.S."

It was first revealed (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/30/free-atandt-wi-fi-access-for-iphones/) last week that AT&T had quietly begun offering iPhone users access to their Wi-Fi hotspots for free (including Starbucks and Barnes & Noble). No official announcement had been made, however, and the service was abruptly turned off (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/05/03/atandt-disables-free-iphone-wi-fi-for-now/) a few days later.

AT&T has remained quiet about this new offering, but it's clear they will be officially delivering this service shortly.

Article Link (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/05/07/atandt-officially-lists-wi-fi-hotspot-access-with-iphone-plans/)

[gcmexico]

awesome that we get this free!!!:D

[spaceballl]

This is GREAT news. Would be even better if we find out that you don't need to enter any username / password / mobile phone number.

i.e. you walk by starbucks, your iphone picks it up without you realizing, you quickly check your email and it does it via wifi seamlessly

[benlee]

Owning an iPhone keeps getting better and better. Should I look more forward to Apple keynote speeches than christmas?

[jecapaga]

Great news. Will have to try this out..always nice to have more wifi hotspots available. Makes the iphone even more attractive.

[Surely]

awesome that we get this free!!!:D

Except it's not free- we're paying for it as part of the AT&T iPhone plan. If it were free, anyone with an unlocked iPhone would be able to use it too.

Does anyone know if this is working again yet? Anyone test it out?

[carve]

That is awesome, i'm stoked!

[Slidemonster]

I'm sorry AT&T, I can get much more done for less money. I was a former subscriber and happy with the AT&T phone service in the past, however in the US, this price for data and phone service costs too much for individuals.

ipod touch + public wifi (which is everywhere) + VPN = getting work done with security....all without a contract. :) (and I travel frequently for business nationwide)

BTW- when is apple going to have a removable battery in their iphone? I'd love to purchase one when they do. The ipod touch makes a great PDA and communication device (when its jailbroken).

[Pippen Man]

Give me a great iPhone 2.0, and Apple & AT&T have my money! :p

[speedbumpnv]

anyone notice...

In order to use data such as email, Google Maps, YouTube videos and web browsing, AT&T recommends using iPhone in a 3G or EDGE Network (coverage viewer), or from a local Wi-Fi connection.
;)

[twoodcc]

so does this mean that current iPhone owners get this also?

[Omni Geno]

ipod touch + public wifi (which is everywhere) + VPN = getting work done with security....all without a contract. :) (and I travel frequently for business nationwide)

I don't know where you do your business, but I haven't had the pleasure of having public wifi "everywhere." I live in Los Angeles area and free wifi is pretty scarce all over southern California. And I don't know which iPod Touch you have, but I don't have VPN on mine.

However, with those two, life would be awesome!

[Gherkin]

AT&T's website says 71,000 hotspots. The graphics above says 17,000.

??

[illegalprelude]

so does this mean that current iPhone owners get this also?

yes. This is so freaking awesome. Yet another reason to go to Starbucks

[ibook30]

anyone notice...


;)

Didn't notice the 3G reference,,, hmmm

I'm happy to try this,,, maybe stumble into a Starbucks Saturday morning and see what happens! If it's fast and free I'll be happy.

Has anyone had a chance to try this out?

[Gherkin]

Here's the link to the AT&T site:

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=5949

[JDawg76]

awesome that we get this free!!!:D

Not free given that I pay $39.99 for the same plan right now that gives me 450 minutes. Hopefully they'll grandfather the price.

[Lershac]

If you cannot afford a pittance like $60 a month you SHOULD NOT HAVE AN IPHONE. I mean come on we are talking about a freaking $400 phone here. If $60 a month blows your budget to hell, its most probably not a wise decision for you to have one (a cell phone) in the first place.

[jecapaga]

If you cannot afford a pittance like $60 a month you SHOULD NOT HAVE AN IPHONE. I mean come on we are talking about a freaking $400 phone here. If $60 a month blows your budget to hell, its most probably not a wise decision for you to have one (a cell phone) in the first place.

Agreed. I'm paying happily for normal iphone use and now I get all these extra wifi areas for free. Nothing bad about that.

[k2spitfire88]

This is sweet, makes me wish I could afford an iPhone right now (one of the many reasons i wish I had one) :D

[Mykbibby]

Owning an iPhone keeps getting better and better. Should I look more forward to Apple keynote speeches than christmas?

Doesn't everyone?

I don't give myself gifts based around holidays anymore... just keynotes ;-)

[aLoC]

Who needs 3G if you're always in range of a hotspot? This is a big improvement for iPhone users.

[TechnoLawyer]

I don't know where you do your business, but I haven't had the pleasure of having public wifi "everywhere." I live in Los Angeles area and free wifi is pretty scarce all over southern California. And I don't know which iPod Touch you have, but I don't have VPN on mine.

Yeah, seriously. Chris Breen said the same thing recently. Maybe it's a San Francisco phenomenon. Here in New York on a little old island you may have heard of called Manhattan, free WiFi hotspots are rare indeed. Basically, the Apple stores and a few parks. :confused:

[Mykbibby]

anyone notice...

In order to use data such as email, Google Maps, YouTube videos and web browsing, AT&T recommends using iPhone in a 3G or EDGE Network (coverage viewer), or from a local Wi-Fi connection.


;)

Congratulations on cracking the mystery! Who would've ever thought Apple would announce a 3G iPhone? You should be a detective or something! :rolleyes:

[Mr. Zorg]

Except it's not free- we're paying for it as part of the AT&T iPhone plan.
I beg to differ. This was not a feature of the iPhone plan I signed up for. Now it is. The price has not changed. Thus, it is free. I suppose you could consider that they are charging for it and have just dropped the price on everything else, but that's a rather negative outlook, no?

[Surely]

I beg to differ. This was not a feature of the iPhone plan I signed up for. Now it is. The price has not changed. Thus, it is free. I suppose you could consider that they are charging for it and have just dropped the price on everything else, but that's a rather negative outlook, no?

I guess it is. I forgot that AT&T is made from sunshine and lolipops.

[brianbobcat]

I'm testing this tomorrow morning after my class. Luckily, two of my buildings are close to Starbucks, one is Exactly next to it.

Cool beans indeed.

-Brian

[DeuceDeuce]

I beg to differ. This was not a feature of the iPhone plan I signed up for. Now it is. The price has not changed. Thus, it is free. I suppose you could consider that they are charging for it and have just dropped the price on everything else, but that's a rather negative outlook, no?


People like that guy are just never happy. AT@T and Apple are giving us something more then what we signed up for and he makes it out to be negative. Some people are never pleased.

[Snide]

I don't know where you do your business, but I haven't had the pleasure of having public wifi "everywhere." I live in Los Angeles area and free wifi is pretty scarce all over southern California. And I don't know which iPod Touch you have, but I don't have VPN on mine.

However, with those two, life would be awesome!


Until citywide Wi-Fi is ubiquitous––which is far from the case at present in the vast majority
of the USA––I am very happy to have an iPhone and EDGE and not a Wi-Fi-dependant Touch.

I was also very happy to have a $39.95/450 minute plan with AT&T with my RAZR,
and paying an extra $20 a month for unlimited data on the iPhone is quite a bargain.

[evilmutent]

Do you think they began to offer this service to iPhone users because they already get an unlimited data plan? From what i remember, a large portion of AT&T's EDGE bandwidth is used by iPhone customers using the internet and its probably more expensve to offer unlimited EDGE use then it is to offer free access to wifi based internet access when available. They are probably reducing their operating cost quite a bit (and making customers happy:D) by doing this because I'm sure the bandwidth for iPhone internet is negligible on broadband (not downloading bittorrent and such).

I do think its great that they've done this though. I hope it puts pressure on Rogers here in canada to do the same when they offer the iPhone here!

[poppe]

Will that include Airports?

[mattbray]

Do you think they began to offer this service to iPhone users because they already get an unlimited data plan? From what i remember, a large portion of AT&T's EDGE bandwidth is used by iPhone customers using the internet and its probably more expensve to offer unlimited EDGE use then it is to offer free access to wifi based internet access when available. They are probably reducing their operating cost quite a bit (and making customers happy:D) by doing this because I'm sure the bandwidth for iPhone internet is negligible on broadband (not downloading bittorrent and such).

I do think its great that they've done this though. I hope it puts pressure on Rogers here in canada to do the same when they offer the iPhone here!


As an avid iPhone user I highly doubt that AT&T is going to cut costs. Part of what makes an iPhone such a joy to use is that you don't have to stay tethered to any one place. I think for the vast majority of users that AT&T hotspot use would be MAYBE 5-10% of their usage. I'm in Seattle, with 4,000 SBUX on each corner and I don't think I'll be taking a huge advantage of this... If Safari spoofing still works then I can see THAT being huge but strict iPhone users? I think not.

-M

[Surely]

People like that guy are just never happy. AT@T and Apple are giving us something more then what we signed up for and he makes it out to be negative. Some people are never pleased.

I never said I wasn't pleased. I just pointed out that it isn't free. I'm paying for it as part of my plan. I'm very pleased with my AT&T iPhone service thus far. I've never complained about my fees.

I'm a happy guy. Ask anyone. :)

[crees!]

If you cannot afford a pittance like $60 a month you SHOULD NOT HAVE AN IPHONE. I mean come on we are talking about a freaking $400 phone here. If $60 a month blows your budget to hell, its most probably not a wise decision for you to have one (a cell phone) in the first place.
With my corporate discount my Verizon bill is $40/mo. At $60/mo this would be around an extra $200/year. :mad:

Edit: Assuming a 20% discount that would put it at $96/year more. I think I could live with that.

[Abstract]

Congratulations on cracking the mystery! Who would've ever thought Apple would announce a 3G iPhone? You should be a detective or something! :rolleyes:

I think that the price of the service is, for what you get, very very good in America. I think if I was living in America, it would totally be worth it. However, seeing as how I (currently) live in Australia, I'm sure the same service would cost something like $100 per month, and I would get fewer WiFi spots, less minutes, etc. :o I'm not going to buy into this until I get a job, I guess. I really have no idea how teenagers can afford this phone, even in the US.

[gcmexico]

Except it's not free- we're paying for it as part of the AT&T iPhone plan. If it were free, anyone with an unlocked iPhone would be able to use it too.

Does anyone know if this is working again yet? Anyone test it out?

****
its free for me...I have an AT&T account...that's what I meant...cool that I don't have to pay extra for this

[studlybw]

I was just at McDonald's this morning for a meeting and I tried to log-in to the attwifi hotspot and it didn't work. I just got the usual login page where it asks you to purchase the service. No iPhone page at all even when I clicked login. I wonder if it will roll out slowly over time. Maybe Starbucks first and then the rest.
I also recall a while back a rumor that Apple was working on a patent for people to purchase things (coffee, etc.) at a Starbucks using their iPhone and then having it charged to their iTunes account. You never have to go up to the counter. You just type it in and wait for them to call your name. Wonder if this is the beginning of that implementation?

[gapfilmvideo]

wifi and 3gdata are totally different / independent of each other... you pay for data in your rate plan.. wifi pricing is provider dependent.... starbucks used to be free for t-mobile users and fee based for others.... att has now gotten in as the provider and provides free use for its customers... you could use your iphone right now for free if you are in free wifi area...

[bytethese]

I'm sorry AT&T, I can get much more done for less money. I was a former subscriber and happy with the AT&T phone service in the past, however in the US, this price for data and phone service costs too much for individuals.

ipod touch + public wifi (which is everywhere) + VPN = getting work done with security....all without a contract. :) (and I travel frequently for business nationwide)

BTW- when is apple going to have a removable battery in their iphone? I'd love to purchase one when they do. The ipod touch makes a great PDA and communication device (when its jailbroken).

You realize that $59.99 is for data and phone service right? I was paying that much for my SLVR. Browsing on my iPhone, visual voicemail (big points on this one from me) and unlimited data along now with access to thousands of hotspots? No wonder I took a half-day last yr to wait in line to get my iPhone. :)

[bytethese]

Yeah, seriously. Chris Breen said the same thing recently. Maybe it's a San Francisco phenomenon. Here in New York on a little old island you may have heard of called Manhattan, free WiFi hotspots are rare indeed. Basically, the Apple stores and a few parks. :confused:

You're not looking hard enough. :)

http://manhattan.about.com/od/citylife1/a/freewifihotspot_2.htm

[bytethese]

With my corporate discount my Verizon bill is $40/mo. At $60/mo this would be around an extra $200/year. :mad:

Edit: Assuming a 20% discount that would put it at $96/year more. I think I could live with that.

Yeah, but at the end of the day, you still have Verizon. *shudders* :)

[Kwill]

With my corporate discount my Verizon bill is $40/mo. At $60/mo this would be around an extra $200/year. :mad:

Edit: Assuming a 20% discount that would put it at $96/year more. I think I could live with that.

You can beat the $60/mo at AT&T. Walk into an AT&T Mobility store and ask a representative how to obtain a plan with "retention" rates.

[nerdbert]

Do you think they began to offer this service to iPhone users because they already get an unlimited data plan? From what i remember, a large portion of AT&T's EDGE bandwidth is used by iPhone customers using the internet and its probably more expensve to offer unlimited EDGE use then it is to offer free access to wifi based internet access when available.

That's exactly what I thought when I read the story. iPhone users in densely crowded areas (e.g. where a starbucks can be found) might eat up most of the bandwidth EDGE provides. The hotspots are there anyways. It might not be cheaper to send data through them (I simply don't know), but they definitely bring relief to urban GSM networks.
In the end it's a win-win: iPhone users get higher speeds near hotspots and AT&T does not have to build more towers to ensure reasonable speed/availability (keep in mind that GSM will be replaced in the foreseeable future so there's little incentive to invest in the infrastructure).

If hotspots provide cheaper bandwidth they will most likely encourage Apple to implement an automatic switching mode in the 3g iPhone - otherwise users would just use 3g because there is not much difference in speed.

[genovelle]

This is from the AT&T site for coverage. I don't know about you but my I phone doesn't have access to 3G networks.
:D

Data Access

In order to use data such as email, Google Maps, YouTube videos and web browsing, AT&T recommends using iPhone in a 3G or EDGE Network (coverage viewer), or from a local Wi-Fi connection.

[timimbo85]

This is great, everything but the SMS which is 200 a month. I rip through text really fast. But here is a helpful hint for some of you. Just have everyone set up a gmail account, and send emails back and forth. Saves you a lot. Most of my friends have iphones and we just talk this way throughout the dday.

[Iphtashu Fitz]

Who needs 3G if you're always in range of a hotspot? This is a big improvement for iPhone users.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people make these kinds of statements. Did it ever occur to you that there are a number of people who aren't "always in range of a hotspot"?

I'm a sysadmin, and I share being on-call one week at a time with 5 other sysadmins. If we get a page when we're on call we have to have the ability to log into our systems and troubleshoot problems. Right now I lug a laptop with me wherever I go during the evenings/weekends when I'm on-call and make sure I'm never very far away from hotspots that I have access to. It's somewhat limiting. I'm looking forward to the 3G iPhone so that I don't have to lug around my laptop any more, and more importantly that I don't have to keep track of wifi hotspots. As long as I'm in a 3G coverage area I can simply pull out my iPhone and respond immediately to a page. I don't have to go look for a Starbucks or some other free/open wifi hotspot first.

Read through some of the other posts as well. Here's one a few posts before yours:

I don't know where you do your business, but I haven't had the pleasure of having public wifi "everywhere." I live in Los Angeles area and free wifi is pretty scarce all over southern California.

If people have trouble finding free/open wifi in a major city like LA then 3G will be a godsend in places like that. I'm in Boston there aren't all that many free/open hotspots around here either. True, having access to AT&T's hotspots at places like Starbucks will help, but it's no comparison to unfettered 3G access.

[ndriver182]

What about 200 sms messages? Isn't it only 60 right now? Does that mean existing customers are getting an upgrade?

[dr_lha]

Will that include Airports?
This is what I am wondering, this is the only place I ever need to use an AT&T WiFi hotspot, as I'm not a partaker of the caffeinated liquid crack that Starbucks deal.

[earnjam]

What about 200 sms messages? Isn't it only 60 right now? Does that mean existing customers are getting an upgrade?

No, it's always been 200.

[k2spitfire88]

I think that the price of the service is, for what you get, very very good in America. I think if I was living in America, it would totally be worth it. However, seeing as how I (currently) live in Australia, I'm sure the same service would cost something like $100 per month, and I would get fewer WiFi spots, less minutes, etc. :o I'm not going to buy into this until I get a job, I guess. I really have no idea how teenagers can afford this phone, even in the US.

Well, take this from a college student who wishes he had an iPhone, many teenagers are spoiled brats, and their mommies and daddies buy them everything, and they don't work, even on college campuses, which is totally surprising, because i have to pay for anything above basic living expense (i.e. spending money, computer, phone, insurance, credit card, video games, etc.) unless they are presents, which many video games are!

Back on topic, one of the things, besides the money, that is holding me back from an iPhone, is the 200 text messages a month-I easily go through at least 500, if not 1000, with my friends/family each month, because our schedules are so hectic, we can sometimes only communicate that way. Is their a way to upgrade the number of text messages a month on the iPhone plan? The wi-fi access would help in terms of emailing people, and doing work that way, but I still need the texting.

[chickenninja]

I beg to differ. This was not a feature of the iPhone plan I signed up for. Now it is. The price has not changed. Thus, it is free. I suppose you could consider that they are charging for it and have just dropped the price on everything else, but that's a rather negative outlook, no?
thats a good point

[seedster2]

awesome that we get this free!!!:D

Nothing is free. It is clear that AT&T was negotiating the broadband with Starbucks long ago. This is probably built into your service contract.

AT&T is there to make money, they're not in the business of giving away services for free.

[Hooka]

I personaly don't enjoy starbucks coffee. In fact if I go to starbucks more then once a year that would be an over statement. Allthough I do watch football next to a starbucks so I will be able to pick up wifi and this making my Sundays all that much better.

I do think this is AT&T trying to limit the amount of bandwidh with the 3g network. Because we all know how much we love to surf the web on our iPhones. We also know that AT&T is complaining about how much trafic is on the edge network right now.

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

This is really nice. I can't wait to start using it.

[jholzner]

I'm sorry AT&T, I can get much more done for less money. I was a former subscriber and happy with the AT&T phone service in the past, however in the US, this price for data and phone service costs too much for individuals.

ipod touch + public wifi (which is everywhere) + VPN = getting work done with security....all without a contract. :) (and I travel frequently for business nationwide)

BTW- when is apple going to have a removable battery in their iphone? I'd love to purchase one when they do. The ipod touch makes a great PDA and communication device (when its jailbroken).

Well of course there's no contract with the iPod touch since you aren't getting any phone service or a phone.

There will never be a removable battery.

[everdown]

Back on topic, one of the things, besides the money, that is holding me back from an iPhone, is the 200 text messages a month-I easily go through at least 500, if not 1000, with my friends/family each month, because our schedules are so hectic, we can sometimes only communicate that way. Is their a way to upgrade the number of text messages a month on the iPhone plan? The wi-fi access would help in terms of emailing people, and doing work that way, but I still need the texting.

Yes, call AT&T. I think for an extra $5 a month you can get unlimited messages to other AT&T users.


On another note not related to the guy above, I can't believe the number of people who say "just find a hot spot. They're everywhere." I agree that there are many places, restaurants, cafes, schools, parks with wifi, but seriously why limit yourself to those places. 3G will be incredibly helpful at airports (most require payment), walking to work, on the subway, at the nicer restaurants that don't provide wifi, getting maps in the car, sitting on the beach, exploring areas outside of the city... Don't any of you who only use wifi ever do those things?

Wifi is great for people with nowhere to go, but the minute you start moving 3G is everything.

[kimdokkyu]

I'm at Starbucks and I am trying to log on ... but it does not work. I entered my phone# and password and selected "att-wifi" ... any thoughts.

[Zadillo]

Well, take this from a college student who wishes he had an iPhone, many teenagers are spoiled brats, and their mommies and daddies buy them everything, and they don't work, even on college campuses, which is totally surprising, because i have to pay for anything above basic living expense (i.e. spending money, computer, phone, insurance, credit card, video games, etc.) unless they are presents, which many video games are!

Back on topic, one of the things, besides the money, that is holding me back from an iPhone, is the 200 text messages a month-I easily go through at least 500, if not 1000, with my friends/family each month, because our schedules are so hectic, we can sometimes only communicate that way. Is their a way to upgrade the number of text messages a month on the iPhone plan? The wi-fi access would help in terms of emailing people, and doing work that way, but I still need the texting.

You can upgrade to 1500 text messages per month for an additional $10 a month, or unlimited text messages per month for an additional $20 a month.

-Zadillo

[rockstarjoe]

I hope this isn't too far off topic, but I have a question. I have a pretty good AT&T plan from 4 years ago that I receive a 15% discount on. I get more minutes for less money than the lowest price iPhone plan. Now, I know when you sign up for the iPhone plan you must give up your corporate discount, but I plan on simply adding the iPhone Data plan to my account rather than signing up for a new calling plan. Will I still lose my discount? Thanks for anyone who can enlighten me.

[wizard]

This is GREAT news. Would be even better if we find out that you don't need to enter any username / password / mobile phone number.

The entry of the phone number is a bit of a pain in the ass, I do hope that AT&T has a long term solution for this problem. Part of the issue here is that I don't always know when I'm around a AT&T WiFI hot spot. The other is the desire to have a many services / features as possible exploit WiFI when ever possible.

i.e. you walk by starbucks, your iphone picks it up without you realizing, you quickly check your email and it does it via wifi seamlessly

Yeah you got the idea but I'm also thinking about apps that don't exist yet. For example a stock portfolio management program. There are other ideas that float out to me from time to time also. The point is seamless access to freely available WiFi makes for a lot of interesting possibilities.

For AT&T this does offer them the opportunity to drastically lower demand on their cell network if developers can easily switch communications modes depending on what is available.

Dave

[wizard]

If you cannot afford a pittance like $60 a month you SHOULD NOT HAVE AN IPHONE. I mean come on we are talking about a freaking $400 phone here. If $60 a month blows your budget to hell, its most probably not a wise decision for you to have one (a cell phone) in the first place.

Do we really need to hear crap like this? I suspect that most people on this forum do see $60 as a lot of money, I know I do. Even then though the issue isn't the $60 spent in one month but rather the more than $700 spent a year. A big difference.

As to the initial cost of the iPhone, frankly that is nothing as it can be scheduled for times when one is flush with money. The real cost of an iPhone is in the ongoing contract. It is one thing to piss away $400 one day, it is another thing to commit to thousands over a long period of time.

Dave

[spaceballl]

it is another thing to commit to thousands over a long period of time.

Dave

I think we assume that people reading this forum have cellphones... So that's just an expense that most of assume we'll have, regardless of which carrier / phone we have.

[jeffgarden]

how do you sign in ? What username do you use or where do you get one ?

Thanks

[Maxington]

Not free given that I pay $39.99 for the same plan right now that gives me 450 minutes. Hopefully they'll grandfather the price.

I would imagine the $59.99 is ($39.99 + $20.00 iPhone data plan)

[Shin3r]

Do we really need to hear crap like this? I suspect that most people on this forum do see $60 as a lot of money, I know I do. Even then though the issue isn't the $60 spent in one month but rather the more than $700 spent a year. A big difference.

As to the initial cost of the iPhone, frankly that is nothing as it can be scheduled for times when one is flush with money. The real cost of an iPhone is in the ongoing contract. It is one thing to piss away $400 one day, it is another thing to commit to thousands over a long period of time.

Dave
No it's not a big difference, it's exactly the same thing. Hello. Get a clue. The only way it becomes a problem is if you have to pay for a year in one lump sum and can't afford to do that. Otherwise the math is exactly the same thing. There is also an ongoing contract with any phone service unless you buy the pay as you go phones. your logic makes no sense.

[borgBulldog]

All references to the WiFi seem to have been removed from the AT&T Wierless pages :confused:

[ntrigue]

deleted

[ntrigue]

If you cannot afford a pittance like $60 a month you SHOULD NOT HAVE AN IPHONE. I mean come on we are talking about a freaking $400 phone here. If $60 a month blows your budget to hell, its most probably not a wise decision for you to have one (a cell phone) in the first place.

+1000

$60 can't even top-off my tank and I have to fill-up 5x a month!

[Flowbee]

how do you sign in ? What username do you use or where do you get one ?


When the service was (accidentally) live last week, a screen would pop when you launched Safari (on the iPhone) that asked for your phone number. Once you entered it, you were good to go. No other login or pw required.

That screen no longer shows up. Just the regular ATT username/pw screen. iPhone users are out of luck at the moment.

[bretm]

I don't know where you do your business, but I haven't had the pleasure of having public wifi "everywhere." I live in Los Angeles area and free wifi is pretty scarce all over southern California. And I don't know which iPod Touch you have, but I don't have VPN on mine.

However, with those two, life would be awesome!

I don't recall the iPod touch having a PHONE! either. Talk about your bad comparisons. Its a phone plan of your choice, plus a $20 data plan. If you think the $20 is too much for unlimited data and 200 SMS messgs, then just say that. Buy it is a very competitive price fwiw. The touch doesn't do either. Why mention it?

[bretm]

I would imagine the $59.99 is ($39.99 + $20.00 iPhone data plan)

Correct. The iPhone plans are the same as any other phone plans.the cost of the phone plan should have no bearing in the iPhone purchase decision, unless you don't like the idea of using a data plan, similar to any other smartphone. But then, why buy an iPhone if you don't plan on using data? AT&T will give you a free phone if you just wanna call people.

[Omni Geno]

I don't recall the iPod touch having a PHONE! either. Talk about your bad comparisons. Its a phone plan of your choice, plus a $20 data plan. If you think the $20 is too much for unlimited data and 200 SMS messgs, then just say that. Buy it is a very competitive price fwiw. The touch doesn't do either. Why mention it?

Wait a sec.. are you referring to my post or the original post that I was replying to, which said:

ipod touch + public wifi (which is everywhere) + VPN = getting work done with security....all without a contract. (and I travel frequently for business nationwide)

This person's post said that with a Touch, Wifi everywhere, and VPN, you don't need the iPhone and its contract. And I disagreed with it completely, since there is no wifi everywhere, nor is there VPN on the Touch. I never mentioned iPhone price plans.

[davidmaxwaterma]

Starbucks have had free wifi for several years in my country - for anything with wifi, not just iphone.

[isalex]

i dont see it, where did it go?

[Lershac]

I suspect that most people on this forum do see $60 as a lot of money, I know I do.

Perhaps you should reconsider your decision to purchase it then. Its either a luxury you can afford, and its not a big deal... or its a necessity you cannot do without, and then you eat ramen to keep it....

OR ITS SOMETHING YOU CANNOT AFFORD.

Even then though the issue isn't the $60 spent in one month but rather the more than $700 spent a year. A big difference.


No, not at all its the exact same thing. if you figure in the time value of money... its less!


As to the initial cost of the iPhone, frankly that is nothing as it can be scheduled for times when one is flush with money. The real cost of an iPhone is in the ongoing contract. It is one thing to piss away $400 one day, it is another thing to commit to thousands over a long period of time.

Dave
Agreed, if you cannot afford it, dont do it! Its unfortunate but true that not everyone can have everything.

On teh other hand I am really upset that Ferrari charges as much as they do for their cars...c'mon its only a v-10!

[Slidemonster]

You realize that $59.99 is for data and phone service right? I was paying that much for my SLVR. Browsing on my iPhone, visual voicemail (big points on this one from me) and unlimited data along now with access to thousands of hotspots? No wonder I took a half-day last yr to wait in line to get my iPhone. :)

I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus, as mentioned earlier I was a happy AT&T customer (with phone service in the past).

I purchased an iPod TOUCH (not an iPhone) for the purpose of jail breaking only because I felt it could serve as a better PDA than Palm or Sharp Zaurus etc. - which up to this point the touch has done quite well. When I find wifi access (which isn't hard to find...honestly) it works very well when I travel. I travel to the East coast, West Coast, Denver, Vegas quite often.

Even in rural areas... free, public wifi exists, you just need to look around, or in my case, I'll have my ipod look for it - :)

And from what I recall, I think the touch has VPN built in without jailbreaking...(at least I thought I read that someplace, but I do have it. I have the 8 gig model touch.)

(click Settings, just the setting underneath wifi)

I paid one price for the ipod touch hardware, knowing I wouldn't have to worry or pay for monthly subscription fees if I owned an Iphone (for data and phone service with ATT). I find that I'm saving revenue (so far). Say what you want.. but it's working for my business and personal travel.

Until the iPhone has a replaceable battery (like 99.98% of other mobile phone hardware manufactures), I'll gladly carrly two slim devices for now, my ipod touch, and a slim mobile phone (on verizon... sigh). PLEASE APPLE, add this hardware feature. Perhaps with all of this savings... I will get impatient and purchase an iPhone someday knowing I'll send it in to have the battery replaced... :(

[stagi]

wonder when this is going to be live? They keep temping us with this news and then taking it away.

[Kenn Marks]

Except it's not free- we're paying for it as part of the AT&T iPhone plan. If it were free, anyone with an unlocked iPhone would be able to use it too.

Does anyone know if this is working again yet? Anyone test it out?

Sooo!! The Point, you only pay $20/mo for an unlimited data plan as compared to the $70/mo I pay for a pseudo unlimited (5GB) data plan for my PowerBook. And the ability to get free WiFi (if you really can, I've tried in several cities and several locations within those cities without success) to supplement the 2.5/3G network is a big plus and saves on cell tower bandwidth for AT&T. Now if they could only get it to work and have support staff that even know the iPhone login page exists (or should exist). And it's not free to every iPhone user only those with a valid AT&T iPhone data plan.

What's with all these other comlaints about $60/mo you would be paying $40/mo for your Smasung/Nokia/Razor/Etc for just having a cell phone so if you can't afford to have the Cell service then the iPod Touch should be better suited to your cheap budget.

[Kenn Marks]

how do you sign in ? What username do you use or where do you get one ?

Thanks

If you are getting the Username / Password AT&T WiFi Login screen you are not where you need to be. THis is the standard WiFi login everyone gets at Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, McDonalds or any of the 17,000 WiFi hot spots. What you should be getting is a special iPhone AT&T WiFi screen that only asks for your 10 digit iPhone number. There were pictures of that login page on the web as late as this morning but in looking to use one as a reference for this post only one could be found, right here at MacRumors http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/30/free-atandt-wi-fi-access-for-iphones/. All these pictures were from different sources because the phone numbers displayed and the times on the iPhone screen were all different.

[L3X]

Until the iPhone has a replaceable battery (like 99.98% of other mobile phone hardware manufactures), I'll gladly carrly two slim devices for now, my ipod touch, and a slim mobile phone (on verizon... sigh). PLEASE APPLE, add this hardware feature. Perhaps with all of this savings... I will get impatient and purchase an iPhone someday knowing I'll send it in to have the battery replaced... :(
Spend the extra cash on the AppleCare warranty, and you don't have to worry about any battery problems for two years. One year without the warranty.