Filed under: iPhone
AT&T finally offers free wifi for US iPhone customers (Update)
After teasing us about it back in May it looks like AT&T has finally come through. They have announced that they "are proud to offer iPhone customers free access to the nation's largest Wi-Fi hotspot network with more than 17,000 hotspots, including Starbucks". Unfortunately, the details are a little sketchy; it's unclear exactly what you have to do to access the network with your iPhone.In any case, you can look up an AT&T hotspot near you or search for a Starbucks. Let us know if you've been able to take AT&T up on their offer.
[via iPhone Alley]
Update: It looks like AT&T has once again mistakenly posted this information. That's right, at the moment AT&T is not offering free wifi to iPhone users, but it is in the works. Look for an announcement, and a quick retraction, sometime next week (and then the week after that, and once again...).
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
David P said 8:46AM on 7-18-2008
I was at a borders yesterday that had an at&t wifi hotspot, but I couldn't access it. It wanted to know my membership name, or a code / coupon. Or of course I could buy time with a credit card.
Reply
Philipp said 8:56AM on 7-18-2008
Way better here in Germany. You just tap a bookmark, personalized with your data and are logged in:
https://hotspot.t-mobile.net/wlan/index.do?username=YourMobileNumber@t-mobile.de&password=YourPassword-d2p&strHinweis=Zahlungsbedingungen&strAGB=AGB
aanidaani said 9:57AM on 7-18-2008
The T-Mobile Hotspot service is nice, but Deutsche Telekom's customer service is just horrible. I had so much trouble getting my phone and internet access set up with them. They're total assholes (And it's not because I'm American -- I speak fluent German!).
alb.rod said 8:56AM on 7-18-2008
Finally, can't wait to try it out. It was pretty slick when they accidentally offered it a couple months ago.
Reply
alb.rod said 8:56AM on 7-18-2008
Finally, can't wait to try it out. It was pretty slick when they accidentally offered it a couple months ago.
Reply
Russell Burns said 9:14AM on 7-18-2008
I attempted to log on to the ATT wifi at the starbucks in Mesquite, TX on Wednesday evening, however I was unsucessful. I even purchased a $5 gift card to pay for my drink, as you are supposidly able to register a gift card and recieve 2 hours of free wifi time but I was unable to succesfully get connected. After 30 or so minutes of messing with it I gave up and whipped out the good ol' iPhone 3G (with a near dead battery of course) and caught up on my current events! :)
Reply
Tim said 9:16AM on 7-18-2008
I was at a Starbucks I had never been to before and when I looked at my iPhone it was already accessing the at&t wifi without me having to set it.
Reply
Joe said 9:29AM on 7-18-2008
Just yesterday I was on "attwifi" and it asked me to buy minutes or login with my AT&T ID, which I'm not sure that I have. Nothing about iPhone access.
Reply
Codey H. said 9:31AM on 7-18-2008
anyone able to confirm the old trick with Safari and using the Mobile Safari agent?
Reply
Scott said 9:36AM on 7-18-2008
At most of my local Starbucks (South Orange County, CA) you just need to enter your AT&T screen name and password and you are on the web. The username and password are the same ones that you use to log-in your DSL modem at home. The log-in site has all the standrad choices like:
sbcglobal.net, att.net, etc. You must use the exact log-in that you use at home and you must know your password.
Reply
YodaMac said 9:42AM on 7-18-2008
So is this free WIFI connection supposed to be for your iPhone or for a notebook, or both? or what?
Reply
Scott said 9:45AM on 7-18-2008
Anything that you bring that can access the log-in website will work. Laptop, iPhone etc.
Jonathan Allen said 10:00AM on 7-18-2008
ATT WIFI was working at the Barnes and Nobles store here yesterday.
(Coralville, Iowa)
Reply
hgtmobile said 10:15AM on 7-18-2008
Yesterday I used an unlocked iPhone with T-Mobile at a MacDonalds ATT WiFi spot. It permitted access because I also have an ATT DSL service at home. Presumably it would also work at all of the other ATT spots.
Reply
tiger66 said 10:18AM on 7-18-2008
are you guys talking about a special thing for iphones, or for ATT internet users?
because its always been there, you just got to log on with your ATT info.
please explain if i am wrong.
Reply
destructo said 10:22AM on 7-18-2008
I was at Starbucks this morning - right next to an AT&T store - and no dice.
Reply
Richard said 10:41AM on 7-18-2008
I have been accessing free wifi at starbucks for the last few months. On the T-mobile sign in page there has been a place for AT&T customers, given I always signed in using my uverse account. Never tried my mobile account
Reply
chrisacoyne said 10:57AM on 7-18-2008
Yeah same here. You need to buy a card for like 5 dollars and join and but coffee etc...
Do you mean we can be able to connect just like an unsecured wifi access?
Reply
Doug said 10:59AM on 7-18-2008
@tiger68...I think the thread got a little OT. The news would be that iphone users who have an account with ATT wireless can now access the ATT wifi hotspots with their iphone. Though it seems there is some discussion as how to do that.
Some of the other commenters are talking about accessing it because they have a DSL account with ATT. That service has been in place for some time. So that is not a new thing.
Reply
Migs said 11:10AM on 7-18-2008
Agreed. Access to AT&T wifi for home internet accounts has been active for quite some time.
Is AT&T offering free wifi for iPhone AT&T Wireless accounts? As in people with only wireless plans?
Reply