AT&T lists WiFi hotspot access as part of iPhone plans
It looks like the reports of AT&T offering free Wi-Fi at their hotspots were not unfounded. Above you can see a new 'Included Feature' that AT&T is bundling with all their iPhone plans. Along with long distance calling, visual voicemail, call forwarding, 3-way calling and Caller ID you now get 'Access to AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots.' Not too shabby at all.
[via iLounge]
Update: And like that it is gone! AT&T really needs to get their story straight on this one.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
kory said 11:36AM on 5-08-2008
not yet, though. was just at starbucks on 23rd & 5th and it still sends you to the user login page rather than the iphone login page that was available before...oh well, prob'ly be soon, though.
Reply
Brooklynguy said 12:00PM on 5-08-2008
I've been testing this almost every day at Citicorp Barnes & Noble with no luck--either last week, or today.
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 12:01PM on 5-08-2008
They need to implement a better system. Either they are making the site ask you for your iPhone number which checks with the AT&T DB and then sends you a temp password via SMS that you put in to get access (most likely) or they will create an iPhone app that you install with the App Store once v2.0 is implemented (less likely).
The first option could still be used with laptops of iPhone owners by spoofing the User Agent and from calling a friend with an iPhone to get the password, but the latter option would make it secure to iPhones only. I think the latter option will eventually be in place.
PS: The image above says 3-way calling. The iPhone under AT&T has 7-way calling. Yes, you can add up to 6 simultaneous calls together at once.
Allan said 11:55AM on 5-08-2008
Even if I had an iPhone... there are still zero AT&T hotspots in my area.
Reply
viewofeverlast said 11:57AM on 5-08-2008
Does this apply to existing iPhone plans, or only new ones?
Reply
kory said 12:03PM on 5-08-2008
hopefully existing...
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 12:04PM on 5-08-2008
The smart money is on all iPhone plans. The iPhone has unlimited data and it's being used excessively. By offering free iPhone WiFi to all trillion Starbucks locations AT&T can alleviate some of that expensive bandwidth to cheap WiFi, while also making it look like they are doing the customer a favour by offering a faster alternative and extra option to EDGE and HSDPA.
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 12:17PM on 5-08-2008
When AT&T first offered free WiFi to iPhone users a week ago it only checked for the User Agent, which can be easily changed to tell any web site that you are using an iPhone.
That prompted a lot of people posting on how to get free WiFi on their phones and notebooks, which probably prompted AT&T to shut down the free service until they have a better plan.
andrew said 12:02PM on 5-08-2008
Can someone post a little tutorial on how to use your iphone as a connection for your macbook if you wanted to sit down at one of these hotspots? Or any other solution? Some of us aren't so good at this. thanks
Reply
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 12:07PM on 5-08-2008
You can't tether your iPhone to a notebook. Something you just have to deal with when you get unlimited/unlimited data for $20 a month.
You'll have to pay for it like all the other notebook users in Starbucks.
andrew said 12:09PM on 5-08-2008
Ah cool. Thanks for the info, I had no idea that was the case.
chair_tard said 1:53PM on 5-08-2008
Bender Bending Rodriguez... what is your problem? If you don't know, you don't have to make stuff up!
You absolutely CAN tether the iPhone to a laptop:
http://www.intoiphone.com/2008/02/20/tether-your-iphone-to-your-leopard-machine-use-iphone-edge-data-on-your-laptop.html
chair_tard said 2:02PM on 5-08-2008
forgot to point out... the tethering solution is to share EDGE via WiFi to a laptop, giving you remote internet access to EDGE. AT&T specifically forbids it, but they can't stop you and there's no way for them to know you're doing it.
However, I have not seen any way to share WiFi via BlueTooth, which appears to be what parent is asking. iPhone has no obvious BlueTooth data functionality, but maybe the Nike stuff will change this.
It sounds like a silly idea though... why do you need internet access with your laptop when you have it on your iPhone? If you are screwing around at a Starbucks, you're obviously not working or doing anything critical or anything that requires a full computer (don't talk to me about flash)... so what's the difference? Just use your iPhone to surf at Starbucks.
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 2:54PM on 5-08-2008
@ Chair_tard,
Did you miss the part where he said that he stated "Some of us aren't so good at this"? You need to gauge your comments to the person you are replying to; this is especially true on the internet.
If he had a jailbroken iPhone and knew ow to use SSH he would probably know about this hack like everyone else does. jailbreaking your iPhone, installing SSH package, installing the BSD Subsystem package, and then teaching someone how to use SSH isn't really the place for this.
If you might want to submit it as a blog request to TUAW, though.
Unknown said 6:33PM on 5-08-2008
@Bender Bending Rodriguez
So you are advocating LYING to n00bz? Nice scruples there... you pretty much have just blown any credibility you may have thought you had, and by the amount of posts you make, you apparently think you have quite a bit. Even beginners can follow howtos, so please try to avoid making up stuff and/or lying to people to protect them from scary technology, jack@
viewofeverlast said 12:14PM on 5-08-2008
http://cre.ations.net/blog/post/tether-your-iphone
This shows you how to use your iphone's EDGE connection on your laptop, but I don't think you can use the iPhone WiFi hotspot on your laptop.
You'll have to have a jailbroken iPhone with openssh installed on it.
Reply
Frank Furter said 12:30PM on 5-08-2008
I've said it before (and got flamed for it) but I'll say it again - so what?
I live in a city with a metro population of over 500,000. I checked the AT&T hotspots page, and there are -TWO- hotspots listed. But my point is, so what? It's hard to go anywhere these days and not find a Wi-Fi signal. Restaurants, bookstores, malls, whatever, there are FREE WiFi hotspots all over the place (and they don't require some whack-ass password/login/mumbo-jumbo, either).
Sorry, but this is nothing more than marketing spin, and based on some of the replies here, it appears to be working....
Reply
Bender Bending Rodriguez said 12:41PM on 5-08-2008
Any worthwhile company will turn anything it can into positive marketing.
But you have it all wrong. Whether to drive sales or for altruistic reasons, there are many free WiFi spots... but Starbucks is not one of them. They had T-Mobile service and now they have AT&T. But as I stated above, they are offering this to save moneya nd congestion with cell data network.
Galley said 12:32PM on 5-08-2008
AT&T lists 71,000 locations. You can view the list here: http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=5949
Reply
UncleMiltie said 12:43PM on 5-08-2008
The key is that McDonalds (not sure if it's all or just corporate locations) are also AT&T Wi-Fi locations. It's kinda hard to find a town in the US without a McDonalds...
Reply