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Boingo Mobile comes to the iPhone/iPod touch

by Christina Warren Dec 8th 2008 at 4:45PM

Good news for travelers or anyone who is frequently on the go: Boingo has just released Boingo Mobile [iTunes link] for the iPhone and iPod touch. Boingo Mobile is actually a pretty handy service, especially for the frequent traveler. For $7.95 a month (5.95 EUR, 3.95 GBP), you get unlimited data and VOiP access to all Boingo Mobile hotspot locations throughout the world. This includes practically every major airport, US Starbucks and McDonalds locations and an insane number of hotels.

I use the Boingo Unlimited service when working away from home (it's about the same price as adding HotSpot access to my cell phone and I get access to more networks) and Boingo Mobile is a great compliment to the service.

I played with Boingo Mobile at Starbucks today and what really stood out was the login process. You only have to authenticate once per Wi-Fi provider. So if you are at Starbucks, which is provided by AT&T, you select your hotspot from within the iPhone or iPod touch, login with Boingo Mobile and you're online.

If you go to another Starbucks or another AT&T provided hotspot, you will be automatically connected and authenticated. Although there are many thousands of hotspots, most are powered by a handful of providers -- authenticating once makes the login process that much more seamless.

For iPhone owners who want to use VOiP but don't want to run the risk of inciting AT&T's contract police, consider trying Boingo Mobile's 30-day free trial. Boingo Mobile is a free app and is available from the App Store [link]; Boingo Mobile accounts are $7.95 a month US and are separate from Boingo Unlimited plans.



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Good news for travelers or anyone who is frequently on the go: Boingo has just released Boingo Mobile [iTunes link] for the iPhone and iPod...
 

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Allan

In case anyone was considering signing up for Boingo mobile wi-fi access for traveling outside the US, you might want to read this:

http://www.allanlibunao.com/boingo-mobile-wi-fi-flat-flee

A Boingo Help Desk Tier 2 Customer Support guy said you'd get hit with premium charges under mobile contracts/plans.

:-(

December 09 2008 at 11:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Allan's comment
LifeSux

yes I can see it being useful to the ipod touch. The iphone is mentioned in the headline though, so I'm wondering are there any benefits for iphone users?

It just seems like the author of the article could have mentioned this.

December 09 2008 at 8:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LifeSux

Ok I'll ask it again since it didn't get answered before.

Isn't wifi access at at&t locations (starbucks, mcdonalds) already free to iphone customers? I don't get what boingo brings to the table for an extra fee. Anybody?

http://gizmodo.com/388519/free-att-iphone-wi+fi-is-officially-back

December 09 2008 at 1:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to LifeSux's comment
Michelle

I don't know about the iPhone, but for us iPod Touch folks this is pretty cool way to get more Wi-Fi access at a reasonable monthly price instead of being charged through the nose for hotspot access.

December 09 2008 at 7:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeremy Pepper

Hi Prof,

Boingo Mobile gives you access to 80,000+ hotspots around the world. And, AT&T is one of our partners - as you note - and is a great part of the Boingo Network.

The benefit in NA is access to other locations that are not AT&T - hotels, other retail locations, airports - that get you online with your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Hope this helps.

(Again, yep, with Boingo).

December 09 2008 at 1:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kenc29

Coverage in China is poor. Only 5 cities, three biggies, Beijing and Shanghai and Tianjin, and two small ones, Qingdao and Qinhuangdao. Perhaps a dozen Starbucks in Beijing, and that's it. About 300 locations each in Beijing and Shanghai, mostly at hotels.

December 08 2008 at 8:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to kenc29's comment
Jeremy Pepper

Hi Ken,

We're continuing to expand our network and will have some more announcements in January.

(BTW, I am with Boingo).

December 09 2008 at 1:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
amglasser

Just to be really clear about the association and authentication process:

You only have to associate with each Wi-Fi network once (done in the Settings.app). However, each time you enter that Wi-Fi network (so, if you go from one Starbucks to another, or go back to the same one the next day), you still have to open the Boingo app to reauthenticate to each network.

The real benefit of this Boingo app is that it allows you to use your $7.95 Boingo Mobile Unlimited account at any Boingo or Boingo Partner hotspot. Without a client app (such as this or the Devicescape Easy Wi-Fi), there's no manual way to log into these hotspots Boingo Mobile account - only the full Boingo accounts can be used manually ($21.95 for USA/$59.00 Worldwide unlimited).

December 08 2008 at 8:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Allan

This will definitely prove useful when I visit Southeast Asia next week.

Thanks for the heads up!

December 08 2008 at 7:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ebernet

However, AT&T Offers free WiFi to all iPhone customers, at all AT&T hotspots - which include all the Boingo spots. Why exactly would I choose to pay $8 a month to get something that is included free already (unless I am a frequent world traveller)?

December 08 2008 at 7:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
glad

It'll prove useful when I am in Spain next year.

December 08 2008 at 6:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to glad's comment
Beanie

Since when is using VoIP over Wi-Fi inciting AT&T's contract police? I'm confused.

December 08 2008 at 5:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Beanie's comment
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