Filed under: Software, Wireless, Productivity, Airport, Reviews
GoBoingo! launches for Mac
Boingo Wireless, the global market leader in Wi-Fi hotspots, has just released a new version of its GoBoingo! client for Intel-based Macs running Tiger or Leopard (Powerbook users can use the client in Tiger). The GoBoingo! client makes it super easy to connect to any of the more than 100,000 Boingo partnered hotspots throughout the world. Boingo powers hotspots in bookstores, airports, hotels, retail stores and restaurants. They have access plans available in daily or monthly increments that provide unlimited access to all Boingo hotspots (in either North America or internationally).The GoBoingo! client is cool because not only can it automatically connect you to a Boingo hotspot (meaning you don't have to go to the login page and enter in some really long username and password), but it also gives you access to tons of Boingo-partnered hotspots that would be otherwise be inaccessible from Boingo.com.
For instance, if you are at the airport and you buy a Boingo Connect Day pass (which is $7.95 for US & Canadian access, $9.99 for international access) and then later that day, go to a McDonald's with Wi-Fi, you don't have to pay a separate fee at McDonald's, because they have a roaming agreement with Boingo. Boingo has a romaing agreement with AT&T as well, meaning that you can soon use your Boingo account at Starbucks.
The client is designed to be lightweight (the download is less than 1 MB) and it runs in the background, only popping up when it detects a Boingo network. After you have entered your account information once, you just have to click "connect" to login. I tested the client out at a few places in my neighborhood today, one that I knew was a Boingo-powered hotspot (because it always brings me to the Boingo login screen) and two that were Boingo roaming-partners and I was able to connect to all three easily and without any excess typing (or even better, money).
The GoBoingo! client is available now.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
drummerjoe said 8:54AM on 7-08-2008
Too bad their Global unlimited plan costs a wopping $39/month.
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Charles Miller said 9:29AM on 7-08-2008
Wow. Could this post read any more like you just cut and pasted a press release?
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DrWho said 10:06AM on 7-08-2008
Yes it could.
gazerbeam said 11:23AM on 7-08-2008
be VERY careful using Boingo overseas. I live in the US, and I bought a boingo plan in NYC before I went to Europe last summer. I used their service all over Europe, and when I returned, I was charged over $300 in "partner" network connection charges. read the fine print; boingo is a good company but there's little or no warning when you connect that you will pay for it down the road.
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Raymie H. said 2:00PM on 7-08-2008
It was released yesterday. I was using it to connect to the Wi-Fi network at an airport.
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Mike said 5:03PM on 7-08-2008
Now, has anyone at TUAW bothered checking out Whisher? They offer a free Airport menu plugin, that shows signal strength and encryption status (Tiger showed neither, Leopard only encryption), and whether a signal is compatible with their per-minute price (with the per-minute price also shown next to each signal). If you find a signal say at an AT&T location, you can just click to connect to it, and the plugin will log you in automatically - and you only pay for the minutes you connect, no rounding up to the nearest 10 or 15 minutes, or having to buy a 24-hour pass just to check your email in three minutes.
I believe there was a plugin you also wrote about that did the extra signal information thing, nothing else, and it actually cost some $10.
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Brooklynguy said 7:56AM on 7-09-2008
Boingo used through AT&T hotspots was always terrible. It took 5 mins. for the server to recognize my MacBook Pro. Now along comes GoBoingo! promising to quickly and easily get me on the Web. NOT! The software doesn't work, gets stuck in memory, prompts all sorts of certificate queries, and doesn't do ANYTHING that it promises (like get me online, tell me if there's a hotspot available, etc.). Absolutely worthless. I don't know why I pay for a monthly Boingo account. I might as well throw money in the gutter.
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Brooklynguy said 8:04AM on 7-09-2008
OK: news flash. Just talked to Boingo tech support. There are "problems" with "recent" versions of OSX--apparently Leopard (and even Tiger) have security systems "too advanced" for the GoBoingo software. The GoBoingo software will only work with "OS X"--by which I assume they mean 10.1.0. Ha!
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