Starbucks Offering Free Wi-Fi as of July 1
Starbucks Offering Free Wi-Fi as of July 1
Posted 06/14/2010 at 2:02pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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Coffee chain Starbucks is partnering with Yahoo to roll out free Wi-Fi to all its locations starting on July 1. The current Wi-Fi setup offers access free access to customers who have a registered Starbucks card, or are AT&T subscribers. Non-AT&T customers that register are only able to get 2 hours of free access. AT&T customers must go through a multitude of steps to gain access to the free connection, but there is no time limit. If you don't fall into one of those categories, the cost is $3.99 for two hours of access. It's not the most appealing deal considering many businesses already offer free Wi-Fi.
Starbucks described the process of accessing the new Wi-Fi as "one click". We hope that means users won't have to register to use the service. Customers that use the new Starbucks network will see targeted content from various media partners including Yahoo and AOL. But you'll also get access to some WSJ, New York Times, Zagat, and USA Today free of charge. Users will also be offered a free iTunes download of the week. We think that's a reasonable tradeoff for free Wi-Fi where it was previously a paid service.
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jjroid
July 05, 2010 at 11:14am
I live in Manhattan and when I go to any SBUX location, I usually tether my phone and laptop...but after reading this article, I thought I would try out their free wifi. Well...the speed pretty much sucks. I just tested it and I got 1.39 down and 1.40 up. I guess it's fine for surfing the web, checking email, reading posts, etc. But if I needed to do any intensive downloading, I'll have to stay home :-/. Shouldn't complain too much though; it's free!
HonestLogic
June 19, 2010 at 12:15am
The real issue is privacy, people need to pay attention... this is an invitation to criminals, Big Brother, etc to WiFi spy... if you don't believe me just Google WiFi spying and see what you are up against .... A FREE SOLUTION is use a FREE webDAV app to sync your files, contact list, calendar, etc with a FREE SwissDisk account. SwissDisk is always end-to-end encrypted. iPhone/iPad user can use the free app OverTheAir from the itunes app store... Blackberry, Droid, Palm users can use the free for personal use app from pader-sync either the -DAV or -FM app because SwissDisk is a webDAV service... stay safe out there my friends!
DogPatch1149
June 15, 2010 at 4:29am
Where I live, Biggby Coffee has MUCH better coffee, and the wi-fi is and always has been free with no limits.
mclovin
June 14, 2010 at 6:39pm
I don't go to Starbucks, but this headline was funny cause I just assumed it was free anyway.
TechMan2525
June 14, 2010 at 6:12pm
I think it wouldn't hurt to ask if Starbuck's credit card system is protected from hackers getting in through the WiFi. I say that because here in Columbus, Ohio that happened @ a bar. But if thats not a problem, then i say it's a good deal especially for those business situations where you can have some coffee while still able to connect and keep in touch with a client.
(I love Peter Jackson as a movie director. Go 1920x1080p)
compro01
June 15, 2010 at 11:04am
If they're dealing with credit cards, they need to have the POS system on a seperate secured network from the public wifi unless the POS system does it's own encryption, otherwise you're in violation of PCI-DSS, which is grounds to lose your merchant account.
tkid124
June 14, 2010 at 3:17pm
I think that Starbucks has gained a few friends here, charging for a customer to use your connection seems silly, maybe requiring that they have a one time use code from the drink wrapper, but to charge. Thank you for finally changing it.
Talcum X
June 14, 2010 at 3:13pm
to get the free wi-fi.
***********
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
"In Ireland, there are more drunks per capita than people." - Peter Griffin
fry
June 14, 2010 at 2:47pm
I have a Starbucks card I use to buy their burnt coffee maybe once a month. For that, I get 2 hours of WiFi a day. Seems to me this is better than having to watch ads.
If you spend more than 2 hours a day sitting in a Starbucks, you might want to consider finding a job.
bandeezee
June 14, 2010 at 2:27pm
I just recently (2 months ago or so) parked near a Starbucks and all I had to do for free service was log in with my AT&T account information. After that, it was free surfing. I just needed some directions, so I didn't stay logged on long, so there could've been a time limit I was not aware about, but there was no clock countdown or anything.
Does this mean that now I have to register with Starbucks first to get access to this new service or will it remain unchanged for AT&T subscribers? Thanks in advance for any help.
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