Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Panera Bread Is The Largest Provider Of Free WiFi

Posted by timothy on from the and-tasty-breads dept.

ayb11 writes "According to this article, the Panera Bread chain of Bakery/Cafes (think Starbucks that bakes their own bread) is the largest provider of free WiFi in the US. Their web site says, " There are currently 573 Wi-Fi enabled Panera Bread bakery-cafes, from California to Virginia. More are added every day." (Even my retired dad takes his barely-used laptop over there so he can get free refills on coffee.) Their full list of hotspots is here."

29 of 350 comments (clear)

  1. I bet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Offering free wifi costs them a lot of dough.

    1. Re:I bet by buro9 · · Score: 5, Funny

      As puns go they don't baguette much better than that. We can't all have an in-bread ability to come out with such wheaticisms.

      I can see how a bakery chain would knead to branch out it's offerings though.

      Damn, I thought of another pun but now it's scone!

      * Thanks to a few mates for coming up with these truly breadful puns.

    2. Re:I bet by Kenja · · Score: 4, Funny
      "Offering free wifi costs them a lot of dough."

      But I bet having it makes them some bread.

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    3. Re:I bet by OECD · · Score: 5, Funny

      Damn, I thought of another pun but now it's scone!

      D'OH!

      (sorry everyone)

      --
      One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
    4. Re:I bet by wowbagger · · Score: 3, Funny
      When JC said "man does not live on bread alone" in the bible, I bet he meant we needed bakeries with WiFi access. Man that guy's good!


      Don't you mean "...that guy's God?"
      --
      www.eFax.com are spammers
    5. Re:I bet by Alien+Being · · Score: 2, Funny

      It was a half-baked idea.

    6. Re:I bet by nacturation · · Score: 2, Funny

      At the very yeast, he's not loafing around thinking up some clever lines he can recite with a bread-pan expression. Some peoples' jokes are so stale and crusty, it's a wonder someone doesn't toast them when they try and jam as many puns into a single post as possible. I mean, heck... it's not as if being funny on slashdot can be your bread and butter or anything. Man, I've been sandwiched between the chair and keyboard too long... I knead to get out and smell the flours or something.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  2. got fibre? by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
    A friend was lamenting how overloaded and lagged the local free WiFi was. Lag always put me in mind of a constipated network. Seems a bakery chain would have the fibre thing covered to keep your traffic moving smoothly, inside and out.

    "uuuugghhh need more bran"

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. If only by krgallagher · · Score: 5, Funny
    "There are currently 573 Wi-Fi enabled Panera Bread bakery-cafes, from California to Virginia. More are added every day."

    If only they served alcohol.

    --

    Insert Generic Sig Here:

  4. Starbucks of bread? by athakur999 · · Score: 4, Funny
    think Starbucks that bakes their own bread


    So their bread is overpriced and burnt but served by attractive female bakers so you keep coming back?

    --
    "People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
    1. Re:Starbucks of bread? by twd · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey! That's my daughter you're leering at!

      --
      ~*~ Tara
  5. Panera! by dr_dank · · Score: 4, Funny

    I listened to those guys all the time growing up. Shame about their guitarist.

    Now whats this about bread?

    --
    Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    1. Re:Panera! by NoData · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dude! Panera rockz! My favorite? "Vulgar Display of Flour."

  6. Re:I live amosgst Luddites by fruity_pebbles · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dude, you live in Wichita. What did you expect?

  7. whoooooooosh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hear that? That's the sound of you not getting the joke.

  8. Good for network testing by ewg · · Score: 5, Funny

    I used a Panera Bread hotspot last weekend to test my employer's new VPN client software. Needed an environment different from my home to isolate a problem.

    Two cups of "Colombian Supremo Reserva del Patrón" later, well, I hadn't solved the problem, but I was certainly focused on it.

    --
    org.slashdot.post.SignatureNotFoundException: ewg
  9. Re:MCdonalds by Linker3000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Anyone eating regularly at McDonalds probably has more spots too.

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
  10. What about linksys by Wesley+Felter · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought "linksys" was the largest provider of free WiFi in the world...

    1. Re:What about linksys by Eccles · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, all those dummies who don't even change the name of their hotspot. But I'm smarter than that.

      Netgear is what I call mine.

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
  11. Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP) by Bob+the+Hamster · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wifi at a Coffee shop... Has there ever been a more compelling reason to push for an implementation of RFC2324?

  12. Free is always reasonable by mephisto73 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Their food prices are comptetitive and the place is comfortable. The wifi service at my local shop is blazing fast. The signal is from the unprotected dollar store next door, but they don't seem to mind too much.

  13. BEWARE -- free WiFi will crowd a university Panera by IronChefMorimoto · · Score: 3, Funny

    I work about 2 miles from a Panera in Atlanta adjacent to Emory University. The Panera is within walking distance from the university. Let me be the first to say that free WiFi and a nearby college student population pretty much guarantee that you will be in a line of 30-40 college kids carrying various WiFi-enabled laptops.

    Thankfully, many of the college girls wear their PJs to class and lunch, so it makes the line seem a little shorter. Ahhh..."hot buttered buns at Panera." Oh shit! Who turned on the mic?

    IronChefMorimoto

  14. Urge.. rising.. by OmgTEHMATRICKS · · Score: 1, Funny

    Must... resist.. making... BAD.. BREAD.. JOKE..

    I. Can't. Do it! Even if the joke IS a half-baked one!

    Oh man, the gods of humor are gonna fry me now . . .

  15. New Story by Jpunkroman · · Score: 2, Funny

    Some guy down the street is the closest provider of free Wi-Fi.

  16. Re:Extremely dumb SonicWall content censorship by db74 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Comes with SonicWall in Pittsburgh too. Don't try to order a g string for your viola, it won't work.

  17. Re:Move Next Door to Hotspot, Get Free Access? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Once, I moved next door to a 24-hour MacDonald's with easily accessible bathrooms, so I could save on my toilet-paper and water bills. Does that count?

  18. Re:Extremely dumb SonicWall content censorship by DarkHelmet · · Score: 2, Funny
    Of course, when on a public network like that you should:
    1. Setup Putty to listen locally on port 1080
    2. SSH to your remote server
    3. Setup FireFox and Switchproxy to point to localhost:1080
    4. Porn!

    Of course, if you're looking at porn in a public place, that might not do too well when trying to pick up on the local ladies.

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  19. Re:Does anyone use it? by FuzzieNorn · · Score: 2, Funny

    So you have a magical web browser which can make HTTP requests without any idea what IP address to send them to?

  20. Re:Krystal has free WiFi by Reignking · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hmmm...the Krystal near here is next to a Panera, so maybe they are just borrowing it :) Honestly, that's the last place I'd expect to find one...

    --
    One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.