[applejosh]

Originally Posted by pdxmatts

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

I haven't read anything like this. Would be kind of a disappointment, IMO. I couldn't find anything by google-ing for this discontinuation, either.

[RSCStacker]

Hmm might have to try this soon.~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

[archer6]

Originally Posted by pdxmatts

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

Here's the accurate story as of this writing. Starbucks currently has a promotion that goes as follows:
You purchase a Starbucks gift card for $5 or more. Then you sit down with you laptop, launch your browser & the AT&T WiFI page loads. It presents you with an opportunity to setup a free account as a _Registered Starbucks Cardholder_ after you establish your account, now you have a username & password so that you can log-into the system. Next step- go to Starbucks & register your card. This provides two substantial benefits.
1) It notifies Starbucks that you are a registered card holder which entitles you to two hours of free wifi per day.
2) In the event that you loose your card they send you a replacement in less than a week.

I have used my T-Mobile wifi account at starbucks weekly for five years. It's fast reliable and a great service. Several months ago Starbucks entered into a deal with AT&T for point of sale services as well as wifi. Therefore there Starbucks now broadcasts T-mobile & AT&T wifi in all their stores.

I use a Starbucks gift card for my beverage purchases & generally keep a balance of over $25 on it, if I loose it they send me a new one with the exact balance as when I lost it (as long as I report it lost). So having it registered really pays off. Also since this is a new program do not be surprised if the Starbucks barista or other partners are not familiar with it as the training has not been completed.


Cheers

[fritzdoss]

Originally Posted by berry911

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

Nice to get something for free

[EricScott]

Originally Posted by archer6

Here's the accurate story as of this writing. Starbucks currently has a promotion that goes as follows:
You purchase a Starbucks gift card for $5 or more. Then you sit down with you laptop, launch your browser & the AT&T WiFI page loads. It presents you with an opportunity to setup a free account as a _Registered Starbucks Cardholder_ after you establish your account, now you have a username & password so that you can log-into the system. Next step- go to Starbucks & register your card. This provides two substantial benefits.
1) It notifies Starbucks that you are a registered card holder which entitles you to two hours of free wifi per day.
2) In the event that you loose your card they send you a replacement in less than a week.



Cheers

Do you need to do this for access via a blackberry or is just for laptop wifi access?

[mjwood0]

The Blackberry Bold and the Apple iPhone do not need a registered Starbucks card to work. The ATT Bold should automatically work if you have a BlackBerry data plan. The iPhone is a bit different.

From my understanding, the T-Mobile hotspots may be going away at Starbucks in the near future. But the 2 free hours a day for registered starbucks cards isn't going away any time soon.

~via BB (wap.pinstack.com)~

[archer6]

Originally Posted by EricScott

Do you need to do this for access via a blackberry or is just for laptop wifi access?

I posted about how the Starbucks system works. Since many PinStack Members use laptops I thought I would outline how to gain access for two hours per day free.

If you read your Bold literature you will see that you have unlimited free access without having an account.

The rumor that Starbucks is eliminating WiFi access was started by a disgruntled ex-employee with contacts in the press. Most everyone loves bad news so it's a good story, which spread quickly.

Unfortunately there will be a large group of unhappy naysayers when it is learned that Starbucks is enhancing their Wifi program to play a greater role. What many do not know is since they added a AT&T to their existing hotspot services have gone up, as has revenue from the additional customers that the AT&T program has brought in. Furthermore Starbucks cost to provide free wifi is Zero. This is because AT&T makes extra money from the point of sale contract.

So be expecting even faster & better Free WiFi at Starbucks as they rollout the 802.11N service soon.

~via BoldBerry (wap.pinstack.com)~

[archer6]

Yes eventually T-Mobile will be phased out of Starbucks, but they have a contract for_ seven_ more years. This was negotiated during the AT&T point of sale transition. Largely to protect T-Mobile from losing subscribers.

[mjwood0]

Originally Posted by archer6

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

It makes a lot of sense for ATT to offer free Wi-Fi for their smart phone users. In fact, though it's only offered to Blackberry Bold and Applie iPhone users as of now, they are talking about expanding the offer to more smartphones with $30 data plans.

If they do this, it will lessen the workload of their towers (good for them) and give the user a good experience making them happy (also good for them). Since they have to provide the data one way or another (either EDGE, 3G or Wi-Fi) it's cheaper and makes more sense to do it via the WiFi.

It is really nice though!!!

[macmood]

i had no problem whatsoever.. i guess the problem your having is coming from your device not being an att device therefore missing the att hotspot settings... you should give 611 a ring and see if they have anything they can do for you mate.

[jikdoc]

Originally Posted by macmood

i had no problem whatsoever.. i guess the problem your having is coming from your device not being an att device therefore missing the att hotspot settings... you should give 611 a ring and see if they have anything they can do for you mate.

this appears to be the case, called up att bb support who told me that i have the correct provisioning and my problem probably was the fact that i was using an unlocked rogers fone.

i guess the question is, has anyone with an unlocked rogers bold been able to logon to starbucks wifi?

[RSCStacker]

You can probably login into starbucks wifi, but not get it free as other att bold owners.