iPhone 2.2 Feature...Free Starbucks ATT WiFi Without Login?

[Kendall015]

I experienced something today that may be a feature of the new 2.2 firmware, but I want others to confirm.

I went to Starbucks for the first time in well over a week, and when I was playing on the internet on my iPhone, I noticed that I was browsing using AT&T's WiFi without logging in. In the past I had to go through the process of typing in my phone number and waiting for a special text message every single time I wanted to connect, but I didn't have to do anything at all today. Is this a new feature of the 2.2 firmware, the AT&T WiFi routers, or is the router at this Starbucks just configured wrong?

 

[Stratus Fear]

It's probably just that Starbucks. I was using the free Wifi on 2.2 at my local shop (while waiting in the drive-thru long line) and I still had to authenticate with my phone number.

 

[G4R2]

I wish this were the case- I went to Starbucks today and had to follow the usual log in.

 

[scaredpoet]

I ad to authenticate today at my local Starbucks, so either the router at yours was misconfigured and everyone is getting free WiFi, or you may have been on a stray, open non-Starbucks WiFi access point without knowing it.

 

[mkrishnan]

I wish this were the case- I went to Starbucks today and had to follow the usual log in.

This has always annoyed me with the cellular company's hotspots -- T-Mobile ones are also like this. It would be really nice if there were some mechanism whereby it could recognize a phone that belonged to the system and log you in automatically, since it's such a nuisance to do the login on a phone and it's not necessarily persistent.

 

[Kevrani]

That's strange, because in the UK, the two Wifi hotspot providers record your iPhone's MAC address, so you only need to authenticate the once

 

[preguntonontrac]

Mine does the same some how it logs on my university and any Starbucks without log in.

 

[kas23]

I can confirm this too. Went to Starbucks yesterday and it jumped right on Wifi without login required. I initially thought it was a glitch.