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iPhone Free WiFi Is Back

Posted by samzenpus on from the everyone-loves-free-stuff dept.

scorp1us writes "iPhone users used to be able to get free Wifi from AT&T hot spots, including Starbucks locations. The service was pulled because of the browser-agent hack. Now the service is being re-launched, this time with a link sent via SMS to the iPhone for the hotspot, valid for 24 hours."

12 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. And... by mewshi_nya · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Who the hell cares? Free wifi. I can get that pretty much anywhere.

    What, is this like "Oh, it has the word "iPhone" in it, so we HAVE to put it up front!" ?

    1. Re:And... by c_forq · · Score: 4, Informative

      I used to think this too. Than I got a job that required me to travel a lot, and discovered you can't count on getting free WiFi all of the time. If you are in a college town you are usually set, but I've even been burned there before.

      --
      Computers allow humans to make mistakes at the fastest speeds known, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns
    2. Re:And... by SydShamino · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Indeed. We took my iPod Touch (and my wife's iPhone) with us to Austria and Germany for a vacation earlier this month, and were quite dismayed to find very few hotspots at all, and none free anywhere we went, from little town to major city like Vienna or Munich. Only the last three of our hotels (of seven) offered wifi for guests - and that was all we had.

      (Perhaps there were hotspots in other places in the towns, away from the city centers and other public places that we visited. But without reliable web access we couldn't find them.)

      --
      It doesn't hurt to be nice.
  2. News Flash by LWATCDR · · Score: 3, Informative

    Starbucks is still trying to charge for WiFi.
    I will meet you all at the Atlanta Bread Company, Panera Bread, or any of a number of other places that offer over priced coffee and Free WiFi.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  3. Hack?! Ha. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hack? I hardly call changing your User Agent a hack.

    This should read:

    "The service was pulled because of poorly implemented security."

  4. Re:how to get it iphone free? by Graff · · Score: 5, Informative

    So what's the hack this time chaps? How do we get free wifi without an iphone

    Well, simple browser-agent swapping didn't work for me. I tried it on Safari switched to identify as Safari on the iPhone and I didn't get the same login screen as my iPhone did. They might be using the MAC address of the iPhone to determine if it is an iPhone in the first place. I'll try setting my laptop MAC address to be the same as my iPhone and give that a chance the next time I'm at a Starbucks.

    Of course this still means you need to know the phone number of an AT&T account and have access to the phone so you get the SMS with the validation link so no free wifi for all, just AT&T customers.

    --
    Sapere aude!
  5. Yeah... by Facegarden · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I found out because AT&T texted me to let me know that my iphone could now get free WiFi... But they aren't supposed to know i even have one... i don't have an iPhone plan, i bought my original iPhone from apple, then took it home and unlocked/activated it without ever agreeing to a new contract. Looks like they're recognizing my IMEI... I really wish i could change that, but none of the programs seem to work with the new firmwares! :-/
    The worst part is, since they know i have an iPhone, they block MMS even with a hacked phone running an MMS program, but even though they know i have an iPhone, i don't get visual voicemail!
    -Taylor

    --
    Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
    1. Re:Yeah... by geemon · · Score: 3, Informative

      AT&T needs to specifically provision the visual voicemail on your plan. I don't know, but I don't think it is tied specifically to the iPhone data plan.

      When I switched to the iPhone, the initial rep failed to provision the visual voicemail service to my plan. It took a separate call for them to provision it properly.

  6. Re:how to get it iphone free? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Funny

    So what's the hack this time chaps? How do we get free wifi without an iphone?

    Ok, this is a somewhat tricky hack so pay attention.

    1. Buy a Starbucks Card

    2. Register the Card

    3. Now here's the really tricky part. Go into your nearest Starbucks and attempt to access the Wifi. When you are prompted for user/pass, enter the username and password you registered the card with.

    Voila! Free Wifi! Make sure you charge or refill the card at least once a month or this hack will stop working.

    You're welcome.

    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  7. Tmobile and the G1 by gearloos · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Noboy has equated this to the latest. Tmobile is now offering free wifi for G1 users (at least)nationwide. I know... here it comes.. all the trash about Tmobile has only 22 3G markets etc... Well, I have a G1, I live in 1 of those markets and here, it is awesome. Some kind of coincidence.

    --
    "Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
  8. Re:how to get it iphone free? by jrockway · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You are going to Starbucks to drink coffee, right? If you pay for the coffee with a gift card, you get the Wifi for free. Since you were there to buy coffee, and you didn't pay any additional money to get the Wifi, that sounds like it's free to me.

    --
    My other car is first.
  9. Re:!Australia Rocks by GaryPatterson · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, because appaearing an a Slashdot story means it has been implemented.

    It's on the government's drawing board, and they're rightly copping a lot of flak for the plan. Business will soon weigh in with the "crippled Internet equals crippled business" line, and the plan will never see the light of day.

    The system works, and Australia does, in fact, rock.