Screenshot of AT&T’s new iPhone portal for Starbucks hotspots
David Chartier on April 17th, 2008
(click for a larger view)
So AT&T has begun its takeover of T-Mobile’s Starbucks hotspots. A friend in Texas saw that AT&T has already moved into one of his local Starbucks, so he did some poking around.
Now under AT&T’s reign, users can get two free hours of WiFi every day. However, the company also designed a portal to make it easy for iPhone users to log in (blurry screenshot above), complete with the ability to purchase memberships or day passes, and even use a coupon or prepaid card, right on the handset.
This is a great idea for coffee drinkers who want to sign up but don’t own notebooks, and those who simply want to roll with an iPhone.
I spoke with a manager in one of my local Starbucks today and asked about how long the AT&T switchover is going to take. She wasn’t positive, but she believes she heard that the plan is to have all ~7,000 stores finished by summer.
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April 17th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
It’s worth mentioning that I have been seeing this iPhone login portal when I log into AT&T wifi hotspots (at B&N for instance) for quite a long while. I’m glad to hear that the transition is beginning. Soon I won’t have to worry about wifi when I am meeting clients at *$.
April 18th, 2008 at 7:28 am
According to the screenshot, a membership is required. Is that supposed to be a free membership . . . as in give me your email, cellphone number and we’ll send you lots of nifty offers membership?
April 18th, 2008 at 8:16 am
@Knotty: Again, AT&T is offering 2 hours of free, consecutive WiFi each day to customers (i.e., if you use it for 30 minutes a one Starbucks, you’re done for the day. You can’t get up and use it for another 1.5 hours at another Starbucks). Any WiFi-enabled device is fair game. Purchasing a membership allows you to use as much WiFi as you want during the day, at as many AT&T/Starbucks hotspots as you want.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:20 am
According to the screenshot, you have to purchase a membership to use the wifi hotspot. If there are 2 hours of free access, how would you do that (based on the screenshot) or am I missing something?
Thanks.
April 18th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Is the free WiFi for ATT broadband users still in effect?
April 18th, 2008 at 10:53 am
@Scott S: To be honest I’m not sure. This is a screenshot from a friend who actually found a Starbucks that’s switched over to AT&T. I would imagine you’re simply brought to this landing page and offered the options to purchase accounts or day passes that last longer than two hours, or you can simply waltz in and begin your two hour session.
I haven’t been able to get my hands on this, but I’ll definitely do more digging when AT&T comes to town.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:54 am
@Tim: I didn’t know AT&T was offering free access to WiFi hotspots if you’re an AT&T broadband user before this T-Mobile switch started. But yes, AT&T DSL/broadband customers will get free access to these hotspots.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
So, how does one reach this page? If I stop into my local Starbucks and boot up Safari mobile, will it re-direct to this page? (Assuming my Starbucks is on the new system?) I am an AT&T DSL customer and do get the Wi-Fi network access as part of my home DSL sub.
April 18th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Hi i am at a starbucks right now and just accessed the att wifi through my iPhone. There is no free internet access, even for two hours. I did everything from calling the corporate office. It seems that att mobile and att wifi are separate companies or something. I’m not getting my access. So no go for free 2 hour wifi here. (Thankfully there are still open wifi networks near my B&N)
April 18th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
[...] The switchover from T-Mobile to AT&T as the provider of wireless networks at Starbucks in the US seems to have started. According to Ars Technica writer David Chartier, at his personal blog site: [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I have used my free access for being an AT&T broadband customer at the Starbucks I’ve visited in the Dallas area and can confirm that not only does it work, but it is unlimited.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
[...] dug around a bit and found that AT&T should start offering 2 free hours of WiFi service and should finish changing over [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
@Steve Haney: Well, as Ronald Ishak commented here, it sounds like AT&T Wireless and the AT&T division that runs these hotspots and broadband service are two different entities. You may see an AT&T hotspot, but it might not be a hotspot run by the broadband division that includes these new rules. The rollout is going to take a few months so you may just have to sit tight.
If anything, I would wager that your local Starbucks manager would be told at least a little ahead of time when they’re actually going to get the AT&T switchover. Your best bet is probably just to ask.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
How do you log in? My email and pw for my AT&T DSL account does not work.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
@james: AT&T broadband may not have taken over your Starbucks location. If you see an AT&T hotspot, it could be run by AT&T wireless (or another company division), which isn’t running this new switchover or the free time promotion.
Try asking your Starbucks manager for more details. He/she should know when AT&T will be arriving to take over the store’s hotspot from T-Mobile.
April 19th, 2008 at 7:30 am
I stumbled across it by opening a website on my iphone at the starbucks. It will automatically bring you to their portal page (where you can log in as a t-mobile customer). At the top right corner of it, there was an AT&T icon. I pressed that then followed the instructions. I don’t really remember much else, but I know I was on the internet with my AT&T password in a few seconds.
Hope this helps
April 19th, 2008 at 9:55 am
[...] Via: David Chartier [...]
April 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Confirming @Gill: I work in downtown Palo Alto, and after posting my comment above, I walked to the Starbucks on University Ave. at lunch with my iPhone and booted up Safari mobile. I did indeed get re-directed to a T-Mobile page, however, in the upper right hand corner was a section branded AT&T which said something like, AT&T broadband customers click here. I tapped and it then took me to an iPhone formatted sign in page. I had to selected which AT&T domain I had originally signed up with (in my case “@sbcglobal.net”), and then put in my AT&T/Yahoo DSL master account name, then my password for that account. Voila. I was in and surfing nicely on my iPhone. E-mail worked as well. I assume that the cookie is now set for the whole network, so any Starbucks I now walk into that is on the new AT&T network will just put me on. That’s the way it has worked at the Mickey D’s where AT&T Wi-Fi is present.
April 19th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
[...] era acerca de la interface que AT&T usaría para permitir el uso del servicio. Afortunadamente David Chartier le saco una foto a la interfaces del sistema permitiendonos ver (a la gente que no se encuentra en [...]
April 20th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Can you please post a cite for the “2 hours free” thing? I tried this portal today at a B&N, and I couldn’t get in without paying or having an existing broadband account with which to log in.
April 20th, 2008 at 7:11 am
@Hal: Sure, AT&T’s own press release on the topic explains everything. Link here:
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=25152
Third paragraph:
“Beginning this spring, Starbucks Card holders can enjoy up to two hours of free Wi-Fi service per day at Starbucks locations offering Wi-Fi access, while more than 12 million qualifying AT&T broadband and AT&T U-verseSM Internet customers will have unlimited free access to the Wi-Fi service. In addition, more than 5 million of AT&T’s remote access services business customers will be able to access Wi-Fi service at Starbucks locations. AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at Starbucks to its wireless customers.”
Note that the “Starbucks Card” is not the Starbucks credit card; it’s one of those gift card thingies you can automatically put money on to use at Starbucks, get free drinks, etc.
But remember, I stated in this post that the rollout is going to take a few months. I said a Starbucks manager told me that she heard the aim was to have all the hotspots switched over from T-Mobile by sometime this summer. Others have already asked this in the comments as well. It’s very likely that while you may have an AT&T hotspot in your area, it isn’t an AT&T hotspot operated by the company’s broadband division, which (as I understand it) these new spots will be. Right now, I think the AT&T hotspots deployed are operated by the wireless division, or another division entirely.
Long story short, if you can’t get in to use free WiFi time at an AT&T hotspot you see at your Starbucks, it most likely hasn’t been taken over by the proper AT&T department yet. Try asking your Starbucks store manager, as he or she will likely have been told a general deadline by when AT&T should come in to take over their hotspot from T-Mobile.
April 26th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I was in a Starbucks in NJ (Middletown) today, and the captive portal said something to the effect of “Welcome, iPhone user! Please enter your mobile number.” Upon doing so, I was able to surf. I tried two other (reasonably) nearby Starbucks locations, without the same results. Can anyone explain this? I’ve found nothing online about iPhone logins that ask for your AT&T mobile number as credentials.
April 26th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
@Brian: Honestly I don’t know what to tell you. I read AT&T’s press release about all this and I don’t remember any mention of exactly how the portals would work.
If you found it at one Starbucks but not another, that could simply be a factor of the rollout taking its time. There’s no guarantee that they’ll set up all Starbucks on a street or in a city in the same day. Like the manager I spoke with said, the rollout is expected to take at least until sometime this summer. If I’ve ever seen a networking rollout like this, it will indeed take *at least* that long, if not a little longer due to unforeseen obstacles and any other hiccups along the way.
Did you happen to ask the manager in that store if they knew they had received the AT&T hotspot makeover? I sure hope you were connecting to an official hotspot and giving away your phone number credentials.
April 26th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
@David: I’ve been looking for over an hour, and still can’t find any language in official releases stating iPhone users get anything for free.
Now that I’ve read more on the rollout, I agree that this must be a result of it. I don’t frequent Starbucks, so I wasn’t sure if this was merely par for the course.
I didn’t think to ask a manager at the time, but I’ll do so when I go back. I’m planning on grabbing some screenshots; let me know where to send them if you’re interested in seeing them. As for the legitimacy of the AP, well the URL certainly looked legit. Lets hope.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
That’d be great Brian. Please hit my About page at http://davidchartier.com/blog/about and use that address. Be sure to keep an eye out for the anti-spam measures I have in place. Can’t be too careful these days.