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iPhone Free WiFi Is Back
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."
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
Hack? I hardly call changing your User Agent a hack.
This should read:
"The service was pulled because of poorly implemented security."
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!
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.
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