No free Wi-Fi for iPhone users at Starbucks
Nearly every online tech publication, including this one, has written about the AT&T announcement offering free Wi-Fi access to iPhone users at Starbucks. Unfortunately in at least two Starbucks locations — Bush Street at Grant in San Francisco and California Avenue in Palo Alto — it’s not working. Indeed AT&T’s splash page sends users to T-Mobile!
Here’s a note I received from an iPhone user today:
I went to the Starbucks on California Ave. in Palo Alto. My iPhone shows two SSIDs: ATT and T-Mobile. I chose the ATT one, but when opening the browser on my iPhone, it directed me to the T-Mobile splash page and required a paid log-in. I had a similar experience at Bush Street (corner of Grant).
So is AT&T’s PR about free wifi for iPhone users is inaccurate.
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I beg to differ as I’ve had a much different experience. I use Devicescape on my iPhone. They have a HOWTO that tells you what account info you need to enter to make this all seamless. You end up on the AT&T infrastructure and not the T-Mobile. I too had this problem as described. Until I started using Devicescape, I had to manually make sure that I was accessing the AT&T hotspot. I have tried this in Starbucks in both the north and south SF Bay area.
Working fine for me in suburban NY without devicescape. Must be implementation issues in various places.
Why be surprised when promised AT&T service isn’t available. They promise but can’t deliver the top two levels of DSL service in most of San Francisco. UNABLE TO DELIVER TOP QUALITY INTERNET SERVICE IN SAN FRANCISCO!
No advertised service at Starbucks. So what else is new?