Free at&t wifi at Starbucks - App store only

[spamdumpster]

At Starbucks today, I could access the at&t wifi to download apps from the appstore, but not for any other app. I know it was wi-fi as I put the phone in airplane mode and then turned the wifi back on.

How/why does this work? How can we take advantage of it for Safari or other apps?

 

[DTigity13]

What other apps are you talking about? If you want wifi for safari at starbucks you have to have a registerd account. A good way to get 2 hours free is to register a starbucks card( Have to use it atleast once a month or it wont work) Then when you open safari you log into your account and free wifi! If you dont wanna pay for wifi at all, work at starbucks like me

 

[kobefan234]

I Thought wifi at starbucks was free??

 

[Rojo]

I have wifi at Starbucks via a registered Starbucks card, and it works great. If you're at Starbucks, you're most likely getting a drink anyway, right? Might as well get one of their cards and buy drinks that way to also get free wifi too. Using a registered card has other benefits too, such as free beverage customization (like free syrups or soy milk), free coffee refills, and a free coffee when you buy a pound of whole bean coffee. I am constantly in Starbucks, so I constantly have wifi for my phone. The only drawback is having to sign in with your membership every time (it'd be nice if it was automatic). Also, once in a while I have to sign in more than once in one visit, which is annoying (usually if I stop using for more than a minute).

 

[velvetelvis]

i thought that iphones were supposed to get free wifi at starbucks.

 

[Ezra12]

wow I thought that starbucks wifi cost money to use....

 

[velvetelvis]

im pretty sure i read something about iphones getting free wifi

link

 

[Geckotek]

I Thought wifi at starbucks was free??

In the past it was not. Recently, when they switched from T-Mobile to AT&T, they started offering free WiFi if you register a Starbucks card and use it once a month.

i thought that iphones were supposed to get free wifi at starbucks.

I heard that at one point as well. I don't think it has happened yet though.....OR perhaps it's like the OP stated...it's only free for App store and probably iTunes access. You're supposed to be able to see what song is playing at that Starbucks at that moment using iTunes.

wow I thought that starbucks wifi cost money to use....

See above.

 

[Hey Jude]

I Thought wifi at starbucks was free??

I have a Chase Starbucks Duetto visa card and I get two free hours a day, as long as I use my visa or starbucks portion of the card monthly.

I get WiFi on my MacBook, iPhone oriPAQ.

Very sweet deal for me, actually

Jude

 

[spamdumpster]

ok. 7 replies to my post and none of them are on point. Here's the question:

How does the appstore access the at&t wifi at starbucks without me having logged in or even having an account?

Assuming someone can answer this question, the second question is whether this is something that can be extended to allow other apps to use the wifi.

 

[Geckotek]

ok. 7 replies to my post and none of them are on point. Here's the question:

How does the appstore access the at&t wifi at starbucks without me having logged in or even having an account?

Assuming someone can answer this question, the second question is whether this is something that can be extended to allow other apps to use the wifi.

It's easy to configure a WiFi AP to only allow certain URLs. If that's what they are doing, then the answer is probably no.

 

[Gizmotoy]

If I remember previous posts correctly, any requests to *.apple.com are allowed, whether you're signed in or not. This would give you access to Apple's main page, the iTunes store, and the App Store, along with anything else hosted at Apple.com.

 

[scaredpoet]

ok. 7 replies to my post and none of them are on point.

Sorry we're not the disciplined bunch you expected.

How does the appstore access the at&t wifi at starbucks without me having logged in or even having an account?

The other posts are correct that the WiFi access point is set to restrict to certain domains, but it's probably even more strict than just apple.com. The App Store is on iTunes, and the whole iTunes mechanism runs on phobos.apple.com. So, requests to that domain go unrestricted, while other domains will require authentication.

App store access may not have even been intentional; it's just a side effect of the fact that the App Store is part of iTunes, and iTunes access is permitted for free at Starbucks. Note that you cant't purchase and download music unless you're on a WiFi connection, but you can purchase apps over the EDGE or 3G because those are much smaller in size.

Assuming someone can answer this question, the second question is whether this is something that can be extended to allow other apps to use the wifi.

Nope. The only ways would to be to:

- Hack the access point
- Somehow infiltrate Apple's data centers, install a VPN or proxy and register it to *.phobos.apple.com, and redirect your requests through it, or
- Get yourself a Starbucks card.

The last one is probably the easiest, considering you're there to actually get a drink or something and not just mooch the WiFi, right?