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Free Wifi at AT&T hotspots
- Thread starter jbromer
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There's a great iPhone app for finding Starbucks
The link in the article for a tool for finding Starbucks locations goes to the Starbucks website. How 2007.
Go to the Apps Store and search for "Coffee Finder". It's free, and really simple: open it up, say yes to its attempt to locate you, and voila: up comes a list of all the Starbucks locations in the nearest ten miles. In my neighborhood, that's dozens! Each can be clicked for details including hotspot availability and phone number (the phone number can't be clicked in the current version). There's a button to bring up the Maps app for quick navigation from hither to yon, and a nifty button to send an email to a contact to have them meet you there.
Recommended, and now doubly useful with the AT&T WiFi offer. Somehow this great, free little utility isn't from Starbucks, either. I hope they give the developers a lifetime of free lattes.
The link in the article for a tool for finding Starbucks locations goes to the Starbucks website. How 2007.
Go to the Apps Store and search for "Coffee Finder". It's free, and really simple: open it up, say yes to its attempt to locate you, and voila: up comes a list of all the Starbucks locations in the nearest ten miles. In my neighborhood, that's dozens! Each can be clicked for details including hotspot availability and phone number (the phone number can't be clicked in the current version). There's a button to bring up the Maps app for quick navigation from hither to yon, and a nifty button to send an email to a contact to have them meet you there.
Recommended, and now doubly useful with the AT&T WiFi offer. Somehow this great, free little utility isn't from Starbucks, either. I hope they give the developers a lifetime of free lattes.
I noticed something interesting today. Yesterday I was in one of my local Starbucks and was able to connect to their attwifi network by simply going into my wireless settings and selecting that network - no text message was necessary and I connected right away. Today I was at a different Starbucks in my area and I kept an eye on my phone to see what would happen (I leave wifi on at all times). Before I even walked in the door I noticed that my phone was connected to a wifi network. When I got in to the store I checked to see what the name of the network was and it was attwifi. If this is the way it's supposed to work, that's great.
Mine "appeared" to be connected this morning as well, but once I surfed to a site that wasn't cached on my iphone, it popped up the splash screen and asked for my phone number. Were you able to surf sites for a while without the phone number verification?
Easy Wifi APP Configured for the Free Wifi at *bucks
Sorry if this is old news, but for those of you using the app "easy wifi" from Devicescape, they now list AT&T (iPhone) as one of their hotspot options. You log your phone into your account online and you should be able to log directly into the Starbucks free AT&T wifi. I'm not sure if you will get a text link still or not, but it's one less step for sure.
I've been using the easy wifi app for a couple of weeks and highly recommend it.
Update: Just went by my local starbucks and used the easy wifi app. Worked like a charm! No need to wait for a text link...it just fired right up once the iphone detected the ATT wifi!!
Sorry if this is old news, but for those of you using the app "easy wifi" from Devicescape, they now list AT&T (iPhone) as one of their hotspot options. You log your phone into your account online and you should be able to log directly into the Starbucks free AT&T wifi. I'm not sure if you will get a text link still or not, but it's one less step for sure.
I've been using the easy wifi app for a couple of weeks and highly recommend it.
Update: Just went by my local starbucks and used the easy wifi app. Worked like a charm! No need to wait for a text link...it just fired right up once the iphone detected the ATT wifi!!
I have my iPhone at home right now and I opened Safari but remained on the Edge network. I was under the impression that if I had an iPhone and I opened Safari on my phone I would have someone from AT&T or Starbucks show up at my house, install a wireless router and DSL and then "service me"?!?! Is this not true? I mean, I do have an iPhone!?!?
IT'S FREE!! I've never seen a homeless person at a shelter throw the food back in the server's face because the mashed potatoes were lumpy.
When my wife was in college she went to New York. While at Grand Central Station a homeless man asked her if he could have a drink of her Coke. She said it was tea and he said never mind.
You don't really want that, because that would likely require that Safari had the IMEI available as a browser property for any JavaScript app...
Just tested the easy wifi/free ATT combo at my local McD's this morning. Once again it worked like a champ. No need for tel # entry. Just to be sure, I went into airplane mode and turned wifi on. Launched easy wifi and was on in seconds. Time to go dance my monthly ATT wifi account and save $20/ month!
blah
blah blah... Listen, you sound like a do-gooder, but the reality of the situation is that someone has found a way to hack almost everything and it doesn't ruin everything for everyone. These considerations are built into the cost of every thing and every service you buy from these mega-corporations, so no need to try to protect their interests. They're doing just fine robbing the average Starbucks visitor of their $10 a day for WiFi, and millions of iPhone users paying $80/month or more, TRUST ME. In the real world, the average consumer gets screwed by them on a daily basis.
Phone companies have known for ages that programs exist on Palm OS and WinMo that can be used to tether these phones to a laptop and essentially do what you are claiming will "ruin it for the rest of us". A program called PDANet for both these platforms has existed for well over 5 years as far as I know. I used this for 3 years with absolutely no problem. The world did not collapse and unlimited data plans still existed for the masses.
The reality is that only a small percentage of the average population is tech savvy enough to figure out (if it is even at all possible now) how to change the user agent in safari, or how to install a program that can be used to tether to a laptop. Even though the more technologically inclined among us know that it is really not that difficult. This relatively small percentage is not going to bring their whole system crashing down.
If AT&T did not already factor in unusually high bandwidth usage, their corporate bigwigs, with their charts and excel spreadsheets detailing if every major decision is cost effective and profitable, would not have given the green light, so relax. The world can be saved by other means.
blah blah... Listen, you sound like a do-gooder, but the reality of the situation is that someone has found a way to hack almost everything and it doesn't ruin everything for everyone. These considerations are built into the cost of every thing and every service you buy from these mega-corporations, so no need to try to protect their interests. They're doing just fine robbing the average Starbucks visitor of their $10 a day for WiFi, and millions of iPhone users paying $80/month or more, TRUST ME. In the real world, the average consumer gets screwed by them on a daily basis.
Phone companies have known for ages that programs exist on Palm OS and WinMo that can be used to tether these phones to a laptop and essentially do what you are claiming will "ruin it for the rest of us". A program called PDANet for both these platforms has existed for well over 5 years as far as I know. I used this for 3 years with absolutely no problem. The world did not collapse and unlimited data plans still existed for the masses.
The reality is that only a small percentage of the average population is tech savvy enough to figure out (if it is even at all possible now) how to change the user agent in safari, or how to install a program that can be used to tether to a laptop. Even though the more technologically inclined among us know that it is really not that difficult. This relatively small percentage is not going to bring their whole system crashing down.
If AT&T did not already factor in unusually high bandwidth usage, their corporate bigwigs, with their charts and excel spreadsheets detailing if every major decision is cost effective and profitable, would not have given the green light, so relax. The world can be saved by other means.
AT&T offers free WiFi to iPhone users. Of course, people are given an inch and try to freeload for a mile.
iPhone data usage is much lower than using a laptop. You won't find people trying to email 10MB videos or play some MMOFPS game on an iPhone.
There is only so much bandwidth that can be utilized on an iPhone at any given time. Any wonder why tethering hasn't happened yet from iPhone to laptop now kids? AT&T provides it as a convenience for the iPhone users. It's not meant for users to shack down with their laptops and suck bandwidth all day. And those of you discussing it very well know that.
Yet the questions are already popping up about why people feel they should be allowed to use their laptops to access a service meant for a small-usage device. If that were possible, it would be so ripe for abuse that AT&T would rather shut it down than to have their network bog down. Ultimately, what was an effort to provide a value-added service would once again fail because a few people decide to ruin it for everyone else.
It's no surprise that Safari on the PC/MAC doesn't work. Even if it did, I'm sure that would be a temporary ability.
Nothing is ever truly free. Even if you were able to hack your laptop to work, Starbucks would kick your hide out of there for squatting your non-coffee-paying backside in their cafe.
I actually didn't even try to go to a website (I just went in to get my drink and leave). Next time I'm in a Starbucks I'll make sure I actually try to go to a website that I know isn't cached.
Just wanted to post a quick update. I was in Starbucks today and was able to connect to their attwifi network; however, I was forced to enter my phone number when I opened up Safari to browse the web. The text message came within a minute or two but when I clicked on the link I ended up on some T-Mobile hotspot page and it told me to check my password (I should have taken a screenshot but I didn't think of it at the time). Anyway, I just navigated away from that page to another page and it worked fine so it really wasn't bad at all. It's probably not all that useful to me since I usually take my drinks to-go but I know a lot of people tend to sit down in there.
Uk
Works well in the UK with O2.
First time one is in range of a BT Openzone, enter the phone number of the phone - done. Next time the phone automatically connects to any BT Openzone / O2 wifi hotspot.
Very neat, and included in the package.
Works well in the UK with O2.
First time one is in range of a BT Openzone, enter the phone number of the phone - done. Next time the phone automatically connects to any BT Openzone / O2 wifi hotspot.
Very neat, and included in the package.
it doesnt work at all the locations. i tried it in different locations throughout NYC and only worked in half the places. The other half kept telling me to try again later.
Works even if you dont have AT&T
Hi,
I have an iPhone first gen, and have tmobile as my carrier.
Im able to get free wifi that AT&T offers to all its iphone users. I tried at McDonalds and Starbucks. No SMS needed
What did I use?
-App called Easy Wi-fi
-A phone number from a friend that has an iPhone, and is using AT&T.
When setting up the app, just put the AT&T phone number.
Get within the wifi range , select the network ATTWIFI, and launch the App.
It would start logging in, and it would let you know if it was succesful or not.
Hope that this is helpful and clarifies any doubts
Hi,
I have an iPhone first gen, and have tmobile as my carrier.
Im able to get free wifi that AT&T offers to all its iphone users. I tried at McDonalds and Starbucks. No SMS needed
What did I use?
-App called Easy Wi-fi
-A phone number from a friend that has an iPhone, and is using AT&T.
When setting up the app, just put the AT&T phone number.
Get within the wifi range , select the network ATTWIFI, and launch the App.
It would start logging in, and it would let you know if it was succesful or not.
Hope that this is helpful and clarifies any doubts
i love having this for my 3g iphone since I don't have data on it. It's available in many places around NYC.
