Free AT&T Wi-Fi Access for iPhones

[8CoreWhore]

Like looking at truckers?

Why do people get so worked up over this? I actually have a life, and don't spend inordinate amounts of time at Starbucks or Barnes & Noble.

Guess what else? McDonalds has free Wi-Fi, as does Burger King. I've found it at various restaurants around town, including doctors offices, hospitals, and Best Buy, even little gift shops and grocery store.

So again - so what.....

Let's see... I can relax in Starbucks in a big comfy chair surfing the internet with beautiful woman coming and going or I can sit on a plastic chair in McDonalds with screaming kids running around and fat truckers reading the local rag.

This is for people who like wifi at Starbucks. Not just wifi wherever. If you don't like Starbucks, fine. Don't go there. See how that works?

 

[8CoreWhore]

Try their espesso drinks or tea.

I really dislike Starbucks coffee, but I had heard about wifi there months ago and didn't know the details, figured I'd try it and that I'd get a warning if I had to pay. I was in Winchester, MA on Main Street, near the train station.

Well, I fired up the iPhone and it found a "tmobile" hotspot under the usual "open" premises, that is, every web hit redirects you to a registration page, I saw "AT&T" and clicked it, and I was on.

I spent a pleasant 20 minutes browsing from my iPhone in a comfy armchair with Starbuck's new Pike's whatever coffee. (Less dark roasted and bitter than other Starbuck's, but still not to my liking.) Bought two songs from iTunes store, too, that probably pleased the providers.

The way the wifi and registration worked, it sort of looks like it should work the same way wherever there's a tmobile Starbucks...

Their brewed coffee is terrible. It'll get good when they get the new CLOVER machines that brew one cup at a time. But, even that can't work if the beans suck. Try an Americano. They combine shots of espresso with HOT water to simulate a big ol' cup of coffee. But it has the flavor of espresso. Add half and half. Or try a nice cup of tea. Or a cold drink with the heat coming on. You can't beat the fact that plenty of eye candy walks in and out.

 

[8CoreWhore]

Comfy, fluffy chairs.

How did no one know about this? It's been common knowledge for a while? Anyway, as a AT&T wireless and naked DSL customer, I'm stoked! I think I will start going to Barnes and Noble more often than Borders.

Barnes and Nobles has plenty of large, fluffy, comfy chairs. Borders doesn't. Though, I think the Seattle's Best coffee at Borders is generally better than Starbucks at BN. And yes, I know they are the same company.

 

[iPhelim]

Has anyone tried User Agent -> Mobil Safari 1.1.3 -- iPhone? That should allow you to get it.

Does anyone know if this plan would work with The Cloud in the UK? So we could access their WiFi from laptops etc. pretending to be coming from the iPhone?

I have enabled dev mode in Safari so can easily fake user agents, and i have a valid O2 contract. Cant wait to try this out soon.

 

[zainjetha]

well what happens if you enter the URL of the special iPhone formatted page into a laptop browser, safari, ie7? do you get the same page asking for ur mobile number.. in that case the benefits could be extended...

 

[OS X Dude]

The one advantage the UK iPhone service had over the US service - gone

 

[chickenninja]

You realize that your argument is asinine, right? Quit complaining and go to your "thousands" of places that offer free wi-fi. That's the solution to your problem. As much as you would love to believe that wi-fi should be offered by every public forum for free to anyone and everyone, the reality of the matter is that it's nobody's obligation to supply you with something that you would like to have for free.

Quit complaining and wasting our time. "k thx bye"

I posted this on a free forum, using free wifi. I dont appreciate or deserve your aggression.
Remember when TV, and radio would just fly into your house for free. Its not so much that I think wifi should be free, its that i know it already is, for example Seattle Washington has free wifi for the entire city. Russia, China, and the USA all built a huge fiber-optic backbone together. This ridiculous "perk" is good for AT&Ts existing users. But is grossly ignorant in the grand scale of the future of internet access. Television and radio both have advertising and so does the internet. For some reason the consumer is charged for access to trans continental fiber-optic networks his tax dollars have built. To expect a customer to tolerate advertising, taxes, ISP service charges, cost of hardware, and then walk into one of the worlds richest most successful coffee shops and learn the free wifi they use at the mom-n-pop-coffeeshop down the street, is only available with a subscription. A promotion which is there to profit the coffee shop. Meanwhile I have always been able to watch streaming video on tv with nothing more than hardware costs and advertising. The purpose of my post is to shed light on the fact that this promotion is a short sighted, short term iphone selling gimmick that doesn't deserve any praise whatsoever except for AT&Ts initiative to broaden their customers experience. Frankly starbucks has made a foolish partnership. For they are now alienating their own customers. Even if they had every ISP service in their coffee shop, they would still alienate customers who have no access. Free Universal wifi access is simpler, involves less negotiation, is attractive to every hardware owner and is the emerging paradigm. Ps. I like your screen-name but your kinda mean.

 

[megfilmworks]

Why does ripping off ATT merit mention?
You would think that after some good news there wouldn't be encouragement to spoof the system with your laptop.
Remember the idiot shoe bomber?
Now we all have to take off our shoes at the airport because of one mentally challenged fool.
No wonder there is so much security, DRM etc.
It is the result of the abusers, thiefs and idiots in our world.
Grow up and stop trying to steal what you should buy.
If you put the energy you use to cheat and rip off people into making money you will be wealthy enough to do the right thing.
And then the honest users will not be subject to more draconian restrictions because of the dishonest few.

 

[matticus008]

For they are now alienating their own customers. Even if they had every ISP service in their coffee shop, they would still alienate customers who have no access. Free Universal wifi access is simpler, involves less negotiation, is attractive to every hardware owner and is the emerging paradigm.

And you pay for this emerging paradigm, how?

iPhone users get access for free because they already pay their AT&T bill. Uverse customers also get free hotspot access--access that AT&T paid for, not tax dollars. Even Starbucks customers have the opportunity to get limited free access by using a Starbucks card to purchase their beverage.

If they want to charge separately for their service instead of rolling it into their prices across the board, that's their decision. Either way, the customer ultimately pays. Private businesses can't be expected to pay for a massive city-blanketing hotspot. If you feel 'alienated' based on being denied free wifi, go somewhere with free wifi. It's as simple as that.

If universal, free access is the future, then it's up to municipal governments to make it happen and to finance those costs through tax revenue.

 

[chickenninja]

If they want to charge separately for their service instead of rolling it into their prices across the board, that's their decision. Either way, the customer ultimately pays.

The coffee shop offers incentives (that they pay for) to entice customers into the store and make purchases. The purchases then outweigh the cost of the incentive and the coffee shop profits. I think this AT&T iphone incentive is a bad one, and I compare it to the other competitors pre-existing incentives that go above and beyond it offering wifi to all patrons. Its a good example of "too little, too late"

 

[b0ned0me]

The coffee shop offers incentives (that they pay for) to entice customers into the store and make purchases. The purchases then outweigh the cost of the incentive and the coffee shop profits

Or alternatively, the coffe shop decides that the cost of the incentive won't be covered by the additional purchases and no profit will result. Then the customer either goes elsewhere, or makes a purchase without the incentive. Given that the trend for most free things is that they become not-free or disappear, I see disappointment in your future.

And if you think all your internet traffic is being carried on fiber paid for by the tax dollars of chinese, russian and US taxpayers, you really need to stop spending time worrying about wifi pricing and get some reading time in.

"nothing more than hardware costs and advertising" - it is to laugh.

 

[DoFoT9]

WHAT?!?!?!?

THATS NOT FAIR!?!?!?!

why should you guys get FREE wifi hot spots when we don't even have 1% of our country covered in hotspots?!

yes i know our country is big, i just hate ISP/phone plans here

 

[t0mat0]

The one advantage the UK iPhone service had over the US service - gone

3G coverage. There's still 3G coverage. Come on O2 and enforced fines due to dragging your feet...

 

[Shasterball]

Why does ripping off ATT merit mention?
You would think that after some good news there wouldn't be encouragement to spoof the system with your laptop.
Remember the idiot shoe bomber?
Now we all have to take off our shoes at the airport because of one mentally challenged fool.
No wonder there is so much security, DRM etc.
It is the result of the abusers, thiefs and idiots in our world.
Grow up and stop trying to steal what you should buy.
If you put the energy you use to cheat and rip off people into making money you will be wealthy enough to do the right thing.
And then the honest users will not be subject to more draconian restrictions because of the dishonest few.

Shoe bomber? What kind of analogy is that?

 

[Shasterball]

WHAT?!?!?!?

THATS NOT FAIR!?!?!?!

why should you guys get FREE wifi hot spots when we don't even have 1% of our country covered in hotspots?!

yes i know our country is big, i just hate ISP/phone plans here

You pay for a premium product, you get premium services. It's like saying, why should you get tons of airbags and other safety features when you buy a BMW, when most people's cars does have those options (I drive a KIA btw... )

 

[GeekLawyer]

Shoe bomber? What kind of analogy is that?

A very, very bad one. Jeez.

One one hand, a deranged terrorist trying to kill people.

On the other, some Apple/iPhone/AT&T customers extending the functionality of the wi-fi they're entitled as wireless AT&T customers in Starbucks.

Yeah -- makes total sense to me!

 

[DoFoT9]

You pay for a premium product, you get premium services. It's like saying, why should you get tons of airbags and other safety features when you buy a BMW, when most people's cars does have those options (I drive a KIA btw... )

oh trust me, i pay the premium and i get the sh*t. australia is so bad for technology atm. come back in 50 years.

i drive a mitsubishi lol

 

[chickenninja]

Or alternatively, the coffe shop decides that the cost of the incentive won't be covered by the additional purchases and no profit will result. Then the customer either goes elsewhere, or makes a purchase without the incentive. Given that the trend for most free things is that they become not-free or disappear, I see disappointment in your future.

And if you think all your internet traffic is being carried on fiber paid for by the tax dollars of chinese, russian and US taxpayers, you really need to stop spending time worrying about wifi pricing and get some reading time in.

"nothing more than hardware costs and advertising" - it is to laugh.

I hate to be so blunt, but i believe: You are incorrect. In all of your points. Given not all internet infrastructure is government funded/built. Free wifi is a growing phenomenon that I observe NOT predict. This widget shows the magnitude of wifi hotspots you or someone else might find it interesting. http://www.jiwire.com/osx-tiger-dashboard-widget.htm and Here is some reading for you. http://www.hpcwire.com/topic/networks/17872284.html

The only thing you need to watch TV is a TV and electricity.

 

[carlgo]

Shoe bomber? What kind of analogy is that?

Nobody is supposed to know about the upcoming iShoephone with mSmart technology. This builds on our fine Cone of Silence cell phone system.

 

[lazyrighteye]

For those keeping score: a Denver, CO McDonald's offered this same AT&T free wifi a screen on my iPhone.
Shockingly fast page loads.
Faster than my Cable wifi at the house.

 

[runithome]

Wireless working at Starbucks with Macbook and ATT wireless phone #

I am writing this post using the solution posted above. I have a macbook and am connected to the Starbucks T-mobile hotspot with Safari set to the iPhone User Client. I used my ATT wireless number to login. I do not own an iPhone, but am simply a ATT wireless subscriber.

After being authenticated, I am able to browse using Firefox and Safari in Default UserClient setting.

It's nice to enjoy to some starbucks coffee and not have to shell out $30/mo for access.

 

[flipperfeet]

Private vs. public

This is disappointing, to think that a promotion would limit its audience to AT&T-iphone users. There are thousands of places that have free wifi for your laptop, your iphone and your ipod-touch. And they expect me to be excited that I can use their wifi if I subscribe to their other services, aka spending money. This is a joke. The internet is not a premium its a fundamental, like napkins. What next drinking fountains that require you have an account with the water utility. Cyber cafe Outlets that only give electricity to certain power company users. Sports bars that only show cable to subscribers. Roads that can only be used by certain car buyers. I cant say their promotion isnt good publicity after all its front page macrumors news. Its the lack of forethought that reduces my confidence in Star-Bucks and the other participating wifi hotspots. but I think its admirable AT&T would take such an initiative to broaden their users accessibility.
However all parties fail to capture the big picture that free internet is going to be an essential,rudimentary resource for customers.

WiFi is hardly "rudimentary" or equivalent to water. If you feel that WiFi internet access should be ubiquitous and free, the place to lobby for it is City Hall not in a Mac Forum or inside Starbucks. That you are railing against a company for charging you for a service in exchange for the use of it, or limiting "free" access to a partner company's subscribers is, to put it politely, silly.

 

[RadioNowhere]

Touch Test

Hi, I just tested this on my iPod Touch in a McDs. I got the regular log-in screen, which didn't work for me cuz I don't have ATT DSL. There seem to be conflicting reports of people getting the iPhone log-in screen versus the (wrong) one I got on a Touch. The quoted post below indicates that the wifi side knows I'm not an iPhone (makes sense), but then some say they have it working. Can anyone elaborate/confirm/deny? Thanks!

"You are only offered the option to log in via phone number if you access the Wifi from an iPhone (or presumably, something that gives off an iPhone user agent). The iPod Touch gives out an iPod user agent. So the answer is no. arn"

 

[studiomusic]

The only thing you need to watch TV is a TV and electricity.

But, you have to watch all those ads...
So, while you surf, a popup comes on for 4 minutes with ads and you can't get to your email or any other site while it's on. Sound good to you?
Me neither.

 

[frankfurter]

Let's see... I can relax in Starbucks in a big comfy chair surfing the internet with beautiful woman coming and going or I can sit on a plastic chair in McDonalds with screaming kids running around and fat truckers reading the local rag.

This is for people who like wifi at Starbucks. Not just wifi wherever. If you don't like Starbucks, fine. Don't go there. See how that works?

You're missing the point. The article makes it out like this is some sort of revolutionary and unheard of offering. It's not. You can find wifi about anywhere these days.

BTW, you obviously -don't- hang out at Starbucks, or you would know you'll find your fair share of "fat" people as you so eloquently put it. Or maybe you're that creepy guy at Starbucks my wife always tells me about?

Enjoy your filthy chair and over-priced fad drinks.