Once again AT&T is offering free Wi-Fi access at Starbucks and McDonald’s hotspots in the US. The system is fairly simple: just type in your AT&T phone number when you fire up your mobile browser get 24 hours of connectivity automatically.
iPhone users, get started with Wi-Fi
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Activate Wi-Fi from the settings icon on your iPhone
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Select “attwifi” from the list of available networks
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Enter your 10-digit mobile number and check the box to agree to the Acceptable Use Policy. Tap ‘continue’
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You will receive a text message from AT&T with a secure link to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot. You will not be charged for the text message.
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The SMS link will only be valid for 24 hours at the location it was requested. Another request must be submitted when using another hotspot location.
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Open the text message and tap on the link for 24-hour access to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot
They’ve turned this on and off over the past few months and this time it looks like it’s actually going to stick. According to an AT&T source, the service should be officially announced today but it seems everything is in place for a full roll-out. This should work in any of AT&T 17,000 nationwide hotspots.
I heard it was only 2 hours of free WiFi per day?
perhaps to give some relief to the overworked 3g network?
…that is the point…
lol
perhaps to give some relief to the overworked 3g network?
Whoaaaa, but I dont think that starbucks in my country have those hot spots :(
I’m not in the U.S. so maybe your plans cap the amount of time you spend browsing, or charge for extra, but if not, then I don’t understand – If I have an iPhone and I pay a monthly fee, why would I want to use Starbucks’ ATT when I have my own connection?
I think this is a bit misleading, as this is for ALL AT&T mobile customers with a data plan, not just iPhone users. I have a Windows Mobile device and have enjoyed this access quite a few times…
I guess this makes up for the lack of the 3G network in many areas. As an iPhone owner though I will be sure to make the most of this offer.
Who would go to roten ronnies for free wi-fi? Who I tell you that is the stupistest thing ever.. well at&t sucks
For some reason I had the impression that this was an existing but terribly under-advertised feature/service already in place for AT&T iPhone users.
I could swear I read a post within the past few weeks about a user who was extremely upset about all the hoops they had to jump through just to get their ‘Free’ Wifi service up and working with their AT&T iPhone… Maybe it was just in beta or something back then???
Either way, it looks like its up and running now, and straightforward to set up when needed.
Kudos to AT&T for providing this additional bandwidth and alternative data coverage beyond their EDGE and 3G networks!
Free starbucks wi-fi with iPhone doesn’t work if you don’t have expensive iPhone text messaging plan with AT&T. I have text message plan disabled on my account and when I tried in starbucks, it took me to a browser page to enter my 10-digit phone number but never sent me the text message. I do receive the official text messages from AT&T on my iPhone. But apparently the text messages to allow wi-fi access never reach my iPhone.