AT&T Hotspots Now Free for iPhone Owners
That's right folks! After months of speculation and rumors, iPhone owners can now use the Wi-Fi available at their local AT&T Hotspot at no additional charge. We thought it was ridiculous that this didn't come pre-packaged with the iPhone considering that most iPhone owners are using the web more than their minutes. If you haven't received this golden text message on your iPhone yet, we've got the scoop on how you can get access to free AT&T Wi-Fi on your iPhone.
Accessing AT&T Wi-Fi From Your iPhone
On Wednesday I received a text message from AT&T. This isn't unusual if you're an iPhone owner and still on the AT&T network. However the following text message probably made just about every iPhone owner run to the nearest coffee shop with an AT&T hotspot:
"AT&T Free Msg: Your Apple iPhone now has free AT&T Wi-Fi access at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. "
AT&T hotspots can be found at thousands of locations. A huge emphasis is being placed on hotspots at Starbucks due to their new partnership that converted thousands of T-Mobile hotspots into AT&T hotspots. We all know that a Starbucks can be found on just about every corner and if not, there's always Barnes and Nobles.
Can I Use it on my Laptop Too?
In my personal tests at my local Barnes and Nobles I was able to connect my iPhone without a hitch. All it took was selecting the correct Wi-Fi network and my phone number to get things going. From there, a text message was sent to my iPhone with a secure link to access the hotspot. According to AT&T the link is only valid for 24 hours. Also, if you relocate to another hotspot you'll have to request a new link. Unfortunately, copying the link into the address bar of my laptop did not allow me to access the Wi-Fi from my laptop instead of my iPhone. Will we see a work around for this in the future?
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Did you set the browser's user agent to the same as the iPhone? Their server might check for that. I was going to test it today but the Starbucks I was at gave me an error that it could not process my request at this time.
Anyone want to create a hacking wiki for this? :o)
- Scott from http://venturedig.com
Um, what countries are we talking about here?
Hey, good to know. I usually just avoid surfing with my iPhone because I'm too lazy to pay for charges. I guess it's time to reacquaint myself with Starbucks. :)
Any word on wifi access using the iPod touch?
@ Blog Post: "...copying the link into the address bar of my laptop did not allow me to access the Wi-Fi from my laptop instead of my iPhone. Will we see a work around for this in the future?" ... let's hope not. (or, "probably not, and that's not a bad thing if you actually think about it.")
@ #1 : I hardly doubt their auth. mechanism boils down to something as easy to spoof as a user agent string in the request header...
@ #6 : Because part of the process involves receiving a text message I'm pretty sure us iPT owners can forget it. it's not for us... it's for AT&T Telephone plan subscribers... the gift is from AT&T, not from Apple... logically, this would exclude iPod Touch owners. (i almost want to drop a "duh" on this one... I mean, just think about it for a second and your question answers itself (if you actually read the post anyway)).
@#7: Actually that's how they were doing it earlier this year
http://lifehacker.com/386168/get-free-wi+fi-access-on-your-laptop-at-starbucks-barnes-and-noble
You would still need an iPhone Att account but once the number authentication went through the WiFi spot couldn't tell the difference.
Perhaps it also authenticates MAC addresses.