Free AT&T Wi-Fi Access for iPhones

[gkarris]

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.

It's only asking for your AT&T Wireless number, so you should be able to log in.

T-Mobile EDGE data plan allows you to use all T-Mobile Hotspots...

I guess with T-Mobile data and AT&T DSL I'm covered at many paying hotspots...

 

[Starflyer]

Yes, we did roar because it's bogus that they charged us in the first place. We're paying money on an already over-priced product, especially $400.

If you thought the product was over-priced at $400, then you are an idiot for buying one.

Not bad for a company whose commitment to customer service has been questioned by most posters on these forums...

I have been quite happy with AT&T for the past 10+ years. I was with them when it was Bellsouth Mobility DSC.

 

[ntrigue]

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?

I returned to the Starbucks today and I was back to square-one. I had to input my phone number and check the box again.

 

[Starflyer]

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.

Yet another unhappy NON-iPhone owner

 

[makktrakker]

i tried it today with my hacked iphone... works perfectly with my pay as u go att card number... didnt try with my international sim inside though

 

[ntrigue]

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.

got free wifi by putting in my verizon number on my iPhone without AT&T service (I use it like an iPod touch without any phone contract) and I got free wifi yay!

This is interesting. Are you suggesting that the field only requires ANY 10-digit phone number? This is a major hole.

 

[DoFoT9]

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)

have you ever tried living in australia mate ???!!!?!

 

[iPhelim]

Damn, the fake user-agent method doesn't work with The Cloud and O2.

 

[chickenninja]

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.

this isnt about entitlement, please do not put words of entitlement in my mouth.
i have not complained, i dont have an iphone, ive only been in starbucks twice (very few in my area), and i dont drink coffee. I have no potential benefit should starbucks offer unlimited free wifi, My bone is that there nickel and dimming people, others arent. so im making it very clear how crappy their wifi plan is. ask yourself if you can write a reasearch paper in under 2 hours. now read the details of starbucks wifi service http://www.starbucks.com/retail/wireless.asp . Its just so self serving, they could have come out and said they were going to provide everyone free access. To help people who cant afford wireless internet, people who dont have broadband in their area, students, kids, bums, hobos something with some altruistic ambition not this nickel dime bullshizz. Im sure it looks nice and profittable in their books and they had lots of meetings discussing whether to charge $3.98 or $3.99. Id expect a company as gargantuan as them to have enough balls to take a """risk""" on free wifi, I personally believe and have seen revenue increased from free wifi. I live in salt lake city and there is a coffee shop called "coffee break" 80% of the people in it are on laptops, They make serious bank off hungry, thirsty free wifi users make no mistake of that. I dont care if starbucks ever offers free unlimited wifi, i just want people to wake up and realize that this business plan is incredibly old-school-Grampa-business-model-stupid. Broadband will only get cheeper, networks faster, hotspots more numerous, and all devices will have wifi built in. So wake up and understand that if you dont provide free unlimited wifi your goona scuw yourself.

I have travelled to cuba,thailand, peru, taiwan, cambodia and mexico for month long study abroad programs over the past 5 years. believe it or not and it is hard to believe. the rest of the world likes americans, what they dont like is the foreign policy. Even in communist cuba, they would go on and on about how cool clinton was and how ***** bus is. anyway
statements i have made are a review of this service and how foolish it is, NOT a request/complaint that i want starbucks to fulfill. i would be on their forums if that was so. The only entitlement i claim is my opinion jackazz.

 

[upinya]

It works in the Bay Area

Went to the local Starbucks and logged in. Bout time AT&T did something for their consumers. Now if they could fix their spotty phone reception.

 

[cameronjpu]

this isnt about entitlement, please do not put words of entitlement in my mouth. etc etc etc etc

You made it about entitlement by complaining incessantly about something some company didn't give you for free. The more you talk the more you sound like a whining, entitled American. I suggest instead of arguing it further, you put a sock in it. I'm an American, btw.

 

[chickenninja]

You made it about entitlement by complaining incessantly about something some company didn't give you for free. The more you talk the more you sound like a whining, entitled American. I suggest instead of arguing it further, you put a sock in it. I'm an American, btw.

I dont care if your a zebra. you sound like a drone, roll over drone.

 

[ZooCrewMan]

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

We aren't getting free WiFi. We pay $20 a month to AT&T for our iPhone data plan, and now, as a part of that plan, WiFi at Starbucks is included.

 

[DoFoT9]

We aren't getting free WiFi. We pay $20 a month to AT&T for our iPhone data plan, and now, as a part of that plan, WiFi at Starbucks is included.

OMFG NOT $20 per month!!!!

you must be sooo broke paying that much.

seriously, for what your paying and what your getting, i would have to pay at least $200 per month in my country.

 

[ninjashoes]

oh man I wanna get one of these so bad after hearing this

 

[jlanuez]

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

Can you explain this more?
Are you saying you can make it think your laptop is an iPhone?

 

[ZooCrewMan]

OMFG NOT $20 per month!!!!

you must be sooo broke paying that much.

seriously, for what your paying and what your getting, i would have to pay at least $200 per month in my country.

In Australia, the phone companies would charge you AUS$200, on top of your monthly bill, for 200 SMS Messages and unlimited data on you phone?

 

[spikefood]

Yup, just tested it near a starbux in Pleasanton, CA. I was actually in the Safeway nextdoor and got enough signal to login....gratis

no complaints here! way to go starbucks+att+apple.

Ha I know which starbucks you went to, I live near the stoneridge mall.

 

[DoFoT9]

In Australia, the phone companies would charge you AUS$200, on top of your monthly bill, for 200 SMS Messages and unlimited data on you phone?

yea thats sounds about right, minus the unlimited data. + you have to pay for phone calls, they might chuck in "free" 3 minute calls (which arent even free if you go over 3 minutes).

australia is the ****. telstra/optus/3 etc are ****.

internet is even *******, there are some competitive companies starting to come out (finally ones with true unlimited internet with no caps). and its about darn time.

mobile needs to go the same way, i hate private companies.

 

[DeuceDeuce]

Nice! I wonder if the using user agent switcher in firefox can trick it into giving me free wifi on my MBP?

Probably already been answered so I'll search...

 

[acarney]

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.

I pay $160 a month for my iPhone family plan and use like 200 min total out of the 700. I figure the extra 500 min I'm never using will let AT&T break even on me using a few hundred megs of wifi every couple months when I travel or something. Really they should include free WiFi on any device for service plans that are that expensive... they do on their DSL plans that are like $39.99 a month! *cry*

 

[rm2092]

And, here's a little secret, the iPhone WiFi portal at AT&T WiFi HotSpot locations determines your iPhone eligibility by detecting your iPhone User Agent. So, you could actually spoof the WiFi portal into thinking that your laptop's Safari browser is actually an iPhone - as long as you have access to a valid iPhone phone number. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

On your laptop:

Fire up Safari
Navigate to Safari Preferences > Advanced and check the box under "Show Develop menu in menu bar"
Goto your Safari window and find the "Develop" menu
Navigate to Develop > User Agent > Mobile Safari 1.1.3 - iPhone
Log in and get free AT&T WiFi HotSpot access!

 

[jhebi]

to make the develop menu show up, you have to go to:

preferences>advanced tab>check "Show develop menu in toolbar"

then go to Develop>User Agent>Mobile Safari iphone 1.1.3

worked for me!

Do you have to go through this step or you can just go to starbucks and start safari and will give the window to put your number and wifi will work?

If it need to go through this steps, how do I get the preferences on the iphone? Thanks

 

[cloudnine]

this isnt about entitlement, please do not put words of entitlement in my mouth.
i have not complained, i dont have an iphone, ive only been in starbucks twice (very few in my area), and i dont drink coffee. I have no potential benefit should starbucks offer unlimited free wifi, My bone is that there nickel and dimming people, others arent. so im making it very clear how crappy their wifi plan is. ask yourself if you can write a reasearch paper in under 2 hours. now read the details of starbucks wifi service http://www.starbucks.com/retail/wireless.asp . Its just so self serving, they could have come out and said they were going to provide everyone free access. To help people who cant afford wireless internet, people who dont have broadband in their area, students, kids, bums, hobos something with some altruistic ambition not this nickel dime bullshizz. Im sure it looks nice and profittable in their books and they had lots of meetings discussing whether to charge $3.98 or $3.99. Id expect a company as gargantuan as them to have enough balls to take a """risk""" on free wifi, I personally believe and have seen revenue increased from free wifi. I live in salt lake city and there is a coffee shop called "coffee break" 80% of the people in it are on laptops, They make serious bank off hungry, thirsty free wifi users make no mistake of that. I dont care if starbucks ever offers free unlimited wifi, i just want people to wake up and realize that this business plan is incredibly old-school-Grampa-business-model-stupid. Broadband will only get cheeper, networks faster, hotspots more numerous, and all devices will have wifi built in. So wake up and understand that if you dont provide free unlimited wifi your goona scuw yourself.

I have travelled to cuba,thailand, peru, taiwan, cambodia and mexico for month long study abroad programs over the past 5 years. believe it or not and it is hard to believe. the rest of the world likes americans, what they dont like is the foreign policy. Even in communist cuba, they would go on and on about how cool clinton was and how ***** bus is. anyway
statements i have made are a review of this service and how foolish it is, NOT a request/complaint that i want starbucks to fulfill. i would be on their forums if that was so. The only entitlement i claim is my opinion jackazz.

Wow. I just have to ask... how old are you? Your ideas and philosophies against Starbucks' Wifi plan make you appear 13-14 years old, and that's being generous. Do you think that corporations exist for charity? If you think that way, you are seriously going to be screwed throughout your life, damning the man every opportunity you get.

My favorite is the plea to open up wifi for the homeless, as if they're lugging around laptops in their shopping carts... hah.

You're a pretty funny one

 

[bluemonq]

I dont care if starbucks ever offers free unlimited wifi, i just want people to wake up and realize that this business plan is incredibly old-school-Grampa-business-model-stupid. Broadband will only get cheeper, networks faster, hotspots more numerous, and all devices will have wifi built in. So wake up and understand that if you dont provide free unlimited wifi your goona scuw yourself.

as a graduating senior from berkeley (yes, THAT liberal hippiedom university) i feel my fine education allows me to point out something that you may not have noticed. i will proceed to enlighten you. you may need to sit down for this.

starbucks exists to make money.

more specifically, as a publically-owned and traded company, their focus is on the short-term. maybe medium term. long-term, not so much. now, that may come to you as a shock, but i swear, it's true. they make serious bank without free wi-fi as it is. they don't need you to worry about the health of their company; their army of analysts, accounants, and lawyers can handle that, thank you. now, as i see it, people go to starbucks because it lets them get away from work and because they don't have to clean out the coffeemaker at home. they go there (around berkeley at least) because of cute co-eds manning the cash register. they go there because (for whatever reason) it is cool to pay >$4 for a fancy coffee, or at least managed to develop a psychological dependence on them. me? i go there once in a while for the green tea frappuccinos. i could probably learn to make it myself, but that would require... but i digress. starbucks is not surviving because they are eco-friendly or that their drinks cure cancer or that they will end unemployment. starbucks survives because of its image. so, not having wi-fi will not, as you put it, "goona scuw" them over. and if/when starbucks loses whatever cachet it may have, free wi-fi is not going to save them.

now, you seem like a bright and well-intentioned fellow. so how about this: why don't you open up your own coffee shop and offer free wi-fi to all? and then you can expand it into a regional, then national, then global chain. and then you can come back in 10 years and tell us what a bunch of suckers we all were and how you were right all along. in fact, you could go a step further: make your coffee shop chain non-profit, offering people decent coffee at a price just enough to cover operations? after all, why should you care about making oodles of profit when you're trying to work towards the public good? why are you even messing with business models?

Really they should include free WiFi on any device for service plans that are that expensive... they do on their DSL plans that are like $39.99 a month! *cry*

that's odd... my parents have the $20 (25?) plan and i could have sworn my father managed to get wi-fi at starbucks.

This is interesting. Are you suggesting that the field only requires ANY 10-digit phone number? This is a major hole.

i imagine at some point they'll actually hook it into a database of some sort. either that, or it's more of a show for actualy at&t iphone customers.