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The Starbucks/AT&T Deal To Change Perception of Public Wi-Fi?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the more-for-free-less-for-pay dept.

ericatcw writes "According to ComputerWorld, with two hours of free Wi-Fi soon to arrive at Starbucks consumers should expect more hotspots to go free as well as more attractive bundles from the likes of AT&T, Verizon and providers. While T-Mobile is hurting, indie coffeehouses and chains such as Caribou Coffee, Tully's and others that already offered free Wi-Fi, insist they are not, saying their ambiance and superior brew will help them retain customers."

18 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. Who else agrees by TubeSteak · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That ubiquitous, free (if slow) wifi is going to be the way of the future?

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:Who else agrees by misleb · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not if it continues to utilize the 2.4Ghz range. In most urban areas the 2.4Ghz band is already saturated. I went to install Wifi in one of our satelite offices here in Portland I was able to see 50... that's right 50! other APs in the area. That sucks when there are 3 (4 if you push it) non-overlapping channels available.

      --
      "THERE IS NO JUSTICE, THERE IS ONLY ME." -Death
    2. Re:Who else agrees by Spleen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Coffee shops and restaurants are somewhat different businesses. Coffee shops want people to hang around because they'll buy another cup or two. Restaurants on the other hand know that once people have had their meal they are doing spending money there. There are exceptions to that, but it is generally true. If a Restaurant's tables are generally full they want people to eat and then leave. Ever have to wait for a table? Imagine if that place had free WiFi and people stuck around after they ate. People maybe coming to expect it like water and electricity, but having a restroom with running water and electricity isn't going to keep people occupying tables for longer periods of time.

  2. What? Americans PAY? by Shuntros · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wifi in European Starbucks has been free for a long time now. Buy a coffee, get a free wifi scratchcard. When credit runs out, go back to counter and get another one.....

    1. Re:What? Americans PAY? by jwietelmann · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For every Starbucks here in the USA that charges for Wifi, there's a mom 'n' pop or local chain coffeehouse across the street that offers it for free.

      In fact, I've heard that a sure way to open a successful independent coffee shop is to open one right by a Starbucks. They've already done all the research on the location for you, and given a choice, I think a lot of people prefer to support the little guy and enjoy a less commercial atmosphere.

    2. Re:What? Americans PAY? by syzler · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In fact, I've heard that a sure way to open a successful independent coffee shop is to open one right by a Starbucks. They've already done all the research on the location for you, and given a choice, I think a lot of people prefer to support the little guy and enjoy a less commercial atmosphere.

      That is funny since where I live, Starbucks is the little guy. In Anchorage, AK the big coffee shop player is Kaladis Brothers. Kaladis has been offering free wireless to anyone since I came to Anchorage seven years ago. They also have a nicer atmosphere with big over stuffed couches and chairs, plenty of tables, and power outlets for computers every where. Most of the local restaurants and grocers feature "Kaladi Coffee" instead of Starbucks.

  3. I never understood the T-Mobile/Starbucks deal by vondo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Aside from airports* and some hotels, wireless is free everywhere that has it. (And what are you going to do, use another airport?)

    Seemingly everywhere now has free wireless: coffee shops, my car dealership, bars, etc. Why on earth would I go to Starbucks and pay $2 for a coffee (not a double soy quad shot latte, a COFFEE) and then pay an extra $10 for a wireless connection?

    That deal was doomed from the start and in today's climate is just silly. The new one is quite realistic.

    * Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville, I believe, have free wireless at the airport. Nice of them!

    1. Re:I never understood the T-Mobile/Starbucks deal by vondo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In other words, the "perception" of public wireless is already that it's free.

    2. Re:I never understood the T-Mobile/Starbucks deal by pak9rabid · · Score: 3, Interesting
      You wouldn't..just steal the fscking service. It's not very hard. Follow these simple steps:
      1. Establish layer 2 connectivity (connect to the wifi network)
      2. Populate your arp cache with other MACs/IPs on the network (nmap -sP 192.168.1.0/24 works nicely..substitute the proper subnet of course)
      3. Pick a MAC/IP pair at random, and set your MAC/IP to these values, but don't use the MAC/IP of the firewall
      4. Test connection (ping google.com or try browser)
      5. Repeat the last 2 steps as necessary until you get past their firewall
      6. ...
      7. Profit!
      The idea here is that you're going to keep tryign MAC/IPs on the network until you find a pair that belongs to someone that's already paid for a connection, thus their IP is already being let through the firewall. The MAC spoofing is necessary because eventually the firewall will refresh itself based on a list of MACs that are registered as having already paid for a connection. Enjoy!
    3. Re:I never understood the T-Mobile/Starbucks deal by _PimpDaddy7_ · · Score: 3, Interesting

      $2? Where?
      A tall(10/12 ounces) is about $1.67 I think. If you bring your USED Starbucks cup or a starbucks mug it's a $.35 refill. Did you know that?

      Where are you getting $2???? I live and work in Boston/Cambridge area and that's what I pay. Well worth it for free wi fi. ALL StarBucks I go to the service is so friendly and helpful it's crazy. Places I go to routinely know me and are even more friendly. I don't even go everyday, I mostly brew starbucks or other brands at home. But when I have to go into a starbucks, I don't mind it at all.

      Starbucks will always get my money because of the user friendly attitude and many other things they do right.

      All these people talking about the Starbucks elitest mentality need to lose it. Not everyone gets a double fat chai triple shot espresso macchiato.

      I won't even go into a Dunkin Donuts. Half the staff sometimes doesn't even speak ENGLISH and the coffee is NOT the same everywhere you go.

    4. Re:I never understood the T-Mobile/Starbucks deal by milsoRgen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Okay I like the refill tip you provided, but let's stop. Breath in, exhale... Calm down. It's just coffee. Not really it is, some is good, some is bad. And some people just don't like the Starbucks jive. Shhhh... It's going to be Okay...

      --
      I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask where they're goin' and hook up with 'em later.
  4. Panera Has Had Free WiFi For Years by cbowland · · Score: 5, Informative

    Panera Bread has had free wifi for years. You can use this page to find one near you. They typically don't hassle you even if you are camped out and not buying much.

    --

    Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
    Teach him to eat and he will fish forever.

  5. Re:Information wants to be free... by isotactic · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's only 2 Free hours - you have to buy a card for $15, and then the first 2 hours are "free", after that you start paying again.

  6. Dunn Bros is #1 in Minneapolis by Rick+Richardson · · Score: 3, Informative


    Fellow Minneapolis chain Dunn Brothers offers free Wi-Fi with *no strings attached* at its 90 locations.

    Caribou is 2nd (one hour free).

  7. Liberal Conspiracy! by ArikTheRed · · Score: 4, Funny

    First AT&T makes major deals with Apple, now with Starbucks? What's next - NPR, Prius and The Daily Show?

    ps: joke.

    --
    http://www.coderoshi.com/
  8. Is this right? by blumpy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Up to two hours of free Wi-Fi service per day will be available for Starbucks Card holders"

    If I understand this correctly, if you go get yourself a card, fill it up with a minimal $5, you pretty much can get 2 hours of free wireless anytime?

    Sounds like a good deal, most of the time you really only need to check your mail or "look something up" quickly anyway... and with Starbucks being pretty much everywhere, this seems like a nice convenience. Great for people like me with an iPod Touch.

  9. Re:Information wants to be free... by jac89 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Its actually 2 free hours a day, which for a one off fee of 15 dollars is really not too bad.

  10. Re:T-Mobile Hotspot@Home service? by all5n · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes. One of the things that T-Mobile got as a concession for Starbucks breaking the contract early was protection for the T-Mobile UMA (HotSpot@Home) service to remain accessible to T-Mobile customers. T-Mobile wifi customers will still be able to access the wifi at starbucks for some period of years at no additional cost. Since AT&T provides many of the T1 connections to the starbucks locations, they can offer SBUX a sweeter deal than T-Mobile could. Going to the 2 hour pass would have been the offering regardless of the wi-fi provider. Plus they want to do some gimmicky stuff related to ordering coffee from your iphone. So they are betting their current wi-fi revenue stream is less than the coffee sales that the new offering will provide.