bold free wifi at starbucks issues

jikdoc · #1 01-01-2009 -

anyone having success logging into the free att wifi at starbucks/barnes&noble? i tried yesterday with no success, called up the att customer service and was bumped up to bb support then to the wifi division which was closed.

i'm not a newbie to wifi on the bold, have all the apn settings correct.

i tried starting the wifi browser and was taken to a login page, entered my att bis login and got nothing. not sure what else i need to do as it's not automatically logging in with my wifi turned on as it's advertised to do.

i'm using an unlocked rogers bold running the .217 os.

fritzdoss · #2 01-01-2009 -

Mine works fine out of the box. Came loaded with the ATT settings for hot spot. I just walk near a Starbucks and it logs on. Somewhere here on the stacks are the settings for the att wifi hot spot.

mjwood0 · #3 01-01-2009 -

I had the same problem. It's now working perfect (in fact, I'm sitting in Starbucks right now). I'm not 100% what fixed it, but after calling support and finally getting transferred to the BlackBerry networking specialist department, I have an idea.

She and I worked for close to an hour and the best explanation or idea she had was that I was on a legacy BlackBerry Internet Service plan ($29.99). After switching me to the current BlackBerry Personal plan (same thing but a penny more $30), resending the service books and pulling the battery, it works like a champ now.

Totally worth the extra penny in my opinion! Just an idea!

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

mjwood0 · #4 01-01-2009 -

Also to note - my att Bold came with settings for the attwifi hotspot preiconfigured. Not sure the Rogers Bold will have these settings.

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

archer6 · #5 01-01-2009 -

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjwood0

I had the same problem. It's now working perfect (in fact, I'm sitting in Starbucks right now). I'm not 100% what fixed it, but after calling support and finally getting transferred to the BlackBerry networking specialist department, I have an idea.

She and I worked for close to an hour and the best explanation or idea she had was that I was on a legacy BlackBerry Internet Service plan ($29.99). After switching me to the current BlackBerry Personal plan (same thing but a penny more $30), resending the service books and pulling the battery, it works like a champ now.

Totally worth the extra penny in my opinion! Just an idea!

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

Wow! I love the power of sharing on PinStack.

I have the same problem but the tech that I talked to did not think of that solution. Based on your excellent description, I know that's what's wrong with mine.

And here's how I'm certain, as I too have lots of wifi experience, know what the settings should be etc. Everything was set properly. Then in addition I was successful in using Starbucks WiFi via my T-Mobile hotspot login. So, needless to say after using it quite regularly with T-Mobile, I was very curious as to why AT&T didn't work.

The value of enabling AT&T access for me is that often I work at Starbucks when traveling (weekly) and therefore I'm using T-Mobile & cannot use it on more than one device at a time. So once I get them to change my legacy account as they did yours I will be able to use WiFi concurrently with both my ThinkPad & Bold! Terrific!

Thanks!

~via BoldBerry (wap.pinstack.com)~

mjwood0 · #6 01-01-2009 -

I hope it works for you!

The reason I'm not 100% certain is that she and I were on the phone for so long and changed so many things. But that was her best guess and it worked after that, so I'm pretty comfortable recommending it to people.

For me, the penny was worth the chance!

archer6 · #7 01-01-2009 -

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjwood0

I hope it works for you!

The reason I'm not 100% certain is that she and I were on the phone for so long and changed so many things. But that was her best guess and it worked after that, so I'm pretty comfortable recommending it to people.

For me, the penny was worth the chance!

If it turns out to be something different for me I will report back.
Thanks Again!

~via BoldBerry (wap.pinstack.com)~

EricScott · #8 01-01-2009 -

Had the exact same situation a few weeks ago. Couldn't get Wifi to work w/ AT&T Hotspots. Called customer service and they were helpful and knowledgeable but basically concluded i was doing everything properly. Then a couple of days later it just started to work. No idea why or how. I have been a Cingular/AT&T customer for about 3 years and have the "BlackBerry Unlimited" feature which is $44.99 and is supposed to be their BES option. So not sure if there is a more up to date feature that is $45.00 but think I am going to leave well enough alone.

novalovr66 · #9 01-02-2009 -

Could it be the .217 OS?

EricScott · #10 01-03-2009 -

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjwood0

I had the same problem. It's now working perfect (in fact, I'm sitting in Starbucks right now). I'm not 100% what fixed it, but after calling support and finally getting transferred to the BlackBerry networking specialist department, I have an idea.

She and I worked for close to an hour and the best explanation or idea she had was that I was on a legacy BlackBerry Internet Service plan ($29.99). After switching me to the current BlackBerry Personal plan (same thing but a penny more $30), resending the service books and pulling the battery, it works like a champ now.

Totally worth the extra penny in my opinion! Just an idea!

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

FWIW, being the anal person that I am, I called AT&T data support today and had them change my feature from "BB Unlimited" (legacy Cingular) to "BB Enterprise" and my wife's feature from "BB BIS" to "BB Personal". The tech I spoke to swore that there was no reason to do this / no benefits but I told her I wanted to have the latest and greatest anyway.

Hopefully I didn't create any problems since everything was working OK before. So maybe you were just the beneficiary of WiFi suddenly working after a few tries like some of the rest of us.

**pdxmatts** · #11 01-03-2009 -

I thought I saw something on the news that Starbucks is going to do away with free wifi. Anyone else hear that?

fritzdoss · #12 01-03-2009 -

Wouldnt surprise me. Everything else free is going away.

berry911 · #13 01-03-2009 -

they charge for wifi if on a laptop, but its still free on a blackberry

dlsolo · #14 01-04-2009 -

Went to Starbucks yesterday for my normal Caffe Mocha and SHAZAM!!! I had ATT WiFi without me doing anything!!!

archer6 · #15 01-04-2009 -

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlsolo

Went to Starbucks yesterday for my normal Caffe Mocha and SHAZAM!!! I had ATT WiFi without me doing anything!!!

So happy to hear that. It's the way it's supposed to be.

So let's give some credit to AT&T! They are the ONLY carrier providing FREE unlimited WiFi !

Cheers