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Free AT&T Wi-Fi Access for iPhones

Using the screenshot utility I snapped a few clear shots of the Javascript probe.
 

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Wait- do you have to input your phone number every time? Or just one time? I its every time, could someone write a program so you don't have to input it everytime with the dev kit?
 
chickenninja said:
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.
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TV infrastructure isn't the same. It's one-way for one thing! The broadcast antenna on the Empire State Building supports transmission to how many millions of users?

Phone access is generally seen as fundamental. Do you also think that cell phone access should be free as well? How or why is that different from free wifi?

Also your very own hpcwire link mentions that fiber network is mainly for science and education.
 
Update: MacRumors reader ntrigue confirms that AT&T's system is based on the iPhone's User Agent, which can easily be faked on laptops. He successfully accessed the free iPhone Wifi through his laptop (and a valid iPhone phone number)"
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And this is useful how?

Everyone with AT&T DSL and EDGE Data service gets Wi-Fi hotspots included - just log in with your account username and password.

Unless people are putting in their friend's iPhone number.... :eek:
 
frankfurter said:
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.
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You sound like an angry person.
 
gkarris said:
And this is useful how?

Everyone with AT&T DSL and EDGE Data service gets Wi-Fi hotspots included - just log in with your account username and password.:
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Not everyone. I have AT&T residence, business, and wireless accounts (but no DSL since it is not available at my street address). This leaves me out of the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots - unless I get a Starbucks card or this new option works.
 
cameronjpu said:
You sound like an angry person.
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Thanks for making an assumption of my entire character and personality based on one post.

If you'd read the thread, rather than being self-righteous, you'd see that I was replying to someone who said that "McDonalds is full of fat truckers and screaming kids", and that "only beautiful people patronize Starbucks".

So if I'm an angry person, how do you classify them?
 
frankfurter said:
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.
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It must be upsetting to be posting to the creepy guy that hangs out with your wife in the comfy chair at Starbucks. Some people need to refrain from frankfurters and coffee (regardless of where they originate) before posting. :p
 
Kwill said:
It must be upsetting to be posting to the creepy guy that hangs out with your wife in the comfy chair at Starbucks. Some people need to refrain from frankfurters and coffee (regardless of where they originate) before posting. :p
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Yeah, I'm crushed. My wife is having a sordid affair with a pimple-faced nerd who gawks at women at the local Starbucks. I guess it's a step up from surfing porn in his mom's basement.

What are you, 12?
 
This is exactly like the free wi-fi for UK iPhone contract users from the cloud.

You input your number and their network remembers your mac number and so after you have registered with your iphone contract number once it will work automatically on every cloud hotspot.

I would imagine that the process is the same for these new AT&T hot spots and I would not be surprised if you get free hotspot wifi access added to the iPhone contracts in the US shortly.
 
megfilmworks said:
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.
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Excuse me. "Ripping off ATT," is a total overstatement. I was a Day One adopter of the AT&T iPhone and am herein entitled to free WiFi service at 1000's of hotspot destinations. Furthermore, I've been paying T-Mobile $29.99 (Hotspot Service) for two years and of all my bills that is by far the most painful to furnish.

Welcome to a new age where bandwidth is readily available and server space plentiful. I will not pay higher prices for an antiquated network of wires any longer. (ref. Japan's infrastructure/price for high-speed internet)
 
zainjetha said:
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...
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That is not a possibility. It uses a Javaprobe that identifies the User Agent in use and generates a unique url. I am, however, curious to hear back from the Cloud UK member.
 
RadioNowhere said:
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"
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I imagine the ambitious iPhone/iPT devs may be able to exploit this. A small install on a jailbroken iPT that let's the user surf within the Mobile Safari 1.1.3 - iPhone user shell.

That being said, I am opposed to this behavior. It feels as though we're beating a dead horse. As an iPT owner you are not paying a subscription to Apple or AT&T and therefore any dramatic developments or subsidized WiFi services do not apply. You have to 'pay to play.'
 
ntrigue said:
As an iPT owner you are not paying a subscription to Apple or AT&T and therefore any dramatic developments or subsidized WiFi services do not apply. You have to 'pay to play.'
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This isn't necessarily true. I'm an AT&T Wireless customer. Two phones. From what I am hearing, because neither of them are an iPhone, I pay but do not play.
 
as one of those evil, unwashed T-Mobile subscribers with an unlocked iPhone, I'd like to point out the fact that I was able to plug in my phone number and get access anyways. yes, you read that correctly: i punched in my T-Mobile phone number and got access. just in case any businessmen or tourists with a european iPhone wanted to try getting a connection at starbucks.

currently waiting to see if the at&t secret operatives drop by in a black helicopter to take me away...
 
frankfurter said:
Thanks for making an assumption of my entire character and personality based on one post.

If you'd read the thread, rather than being self-righteous, you'd see that I was replying to someone who said that "McDonalds is full of fat truckers and screaming kids", and that "only beautiful people patronize Starbucks".

So if I'm an angry person, how do you classify them?
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Either observant or superficial, I suppose. But you still sound like an angry person, a feeling only bolstered by your angry reply. BTW I'm not sure that the part about beautiful people and Starbucks belongs in quotation marks...
 
sobrien140 said:
Totally useless until they implement WPA.

I will never connect to unencrypted WiFi.
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Uh... VPN much? Implementing WPA on public access points for the use of hundreds of thousands of people is more effort than it's worth. Besides, WPA isn't secure anymore; it's WPA2 that you want.
 
I cant say I have tried taking my mac somewhere where there is cloud access as in the UK the wifi hotspots that the cloud has are in bars and pubs - and generally you don't take your laptop to a bar with you!

But its great for going online while your having a drink if there is anything you want to do on your iPhone!
 
chickenninja said:
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. [...] Ps. I like your screen-name but your kinda mean.
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Well, while I appreciate the admiration of my screen name, I stand by my former response. I apologize for the harshness of it, but your post is exactly why we as Americans have a bad reputation throughout the rest of the world. You expect things to be handed to you. Just because you want something for free doesn't mean that it's going to happen, no matter how much you complain.

Like I said before, if you're aware of and use the free wi-fi at "every other mom and pop shop", then there is absolutely no use for your complaining here... go there instead of Starbucks. However, Starbucks is a much more prominent entity throughout the country (and, amazingly enough, the rest of the world) and has the ability to charge for their wireless access. Yes, it is a perk for them to be offering it for free to iPhone owners.

I could go on and on ripping your argument to shreds about how these "trans continental fiber optic networks" are "paid for with tax dollars", but i'll just leave that alone. Starbucks charging for WiFi is a completely separate discussion. They're a corporation. They make the rules for their stores, not you. If you don't like it, JiWire it up and find the next spot down the street.
 
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