Industry guru Dave Taylor offers free tech support on a wide variety of technical and business topics, including HTML, online advertising, Cascading Style Sheets, Web design, management, Unix, Linux, search engine optimization, online dating, Mac OS X, shell script programming and Microsoft Windows.

How do I connect my iPhone to the Starbucks AT&T wifi Network?

I got a text message from AT&T telling me that I can now connect my iPhone up to the AT&T wifi network at Starbucks for free. Nice, but I've heard it's convoluted. Can you document it so I know how things should proceed?


Dave's Answer:

Happy to help out, and yes, in advance I will tell you that it's not as easy as tapping a button and being online, but when compared to the extraordinary hoops you have to jump through to connect to the AT&T wifi network with a Starbucks card it's not bad. :-)

One thing I didn't realize until I was actually in a Starbucks, however, is that just because you are paying through the nose for an AT&T cellular data connection with your phone, that doesn't give you a full attwifi account with any computer. Might sound a bit dim, but I thought "cool, I can use my phone to enable wifi access with my laptop". But I was wrong.

The text you probably received from AT&T looks like this:

starbucks attwifi iphone free msg

I've highlighted the message in question, and sure enough, if you simply click on the link it'll take you to a page that explains how to connect. But let's assume, like me, you'd rather just try thing than read about them!

Your first step once you're in a Starbucks is to turn on your iPhone wifi (if you don't already have it on all the time), which can be done by clicking on the "Settings" icon,:

starbucks attwifi iphone settings

Now click on "Wi-Fi" and after a second or two you'll see:

starbucks attwifi iphone choose att wifi

Choose "attwifi" and go back to the main menu.

But you're not done.

Now go to "Safari" and, using a bookmark, refreshing the page you're looking at currently or typing in a new URL directly, go to somewhere on the Web.

The wifi network will intercept your request and drop you on the page that requests your Apple iPhone number:

starbucks attwifi iphone get connected now

Enter your phone number (though why it can't auto-detect it I'm not sure) and agree to the terms of service by checking the box, then click on "Click Here to Continue"...

starbucks attwifi iphone sending txt

Tick, tick, tick. A few seconds pass (it took about five seconds for me) and you'll be notified that you have a new text message:

starbucks attwifi iphone connect txt 1

Click on "View"...

starbucks attwifi iphone connect txt

All that's left is for you to click on the actual blue URL shown in this text message and, congrats, you're now online:

starbucks attwifi iphone now connected

That's all there is to it. Looks complex, but I think that once you get the hang of it the entire process will take about 20 seconds.

Now if I could just use the iPhone as a data connection device with my laptop we'd really be talking... !

Tip: I've had an Apple iPhone for a long time, and have a ton of free iPhone help here if you poke around.



Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Stumble Upon    

Ringaza Free Bonus Ringtones and Wallpapers!


Subscribe!

Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader.

Comments

I get a log the screen that asks for my phone number. I enter it, agree to the terms, and the next screen says it doesn't recognize my phone number. 

AT&T says if you can get a 3G connection it is out of their hands. They initially blamed Apple. Then they blamed Starbucks. I can't help but think it is an AT&T issue.

Posted by: Jon Sinton at December 26, 2008 2:16 PM


I have a lot to say, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!









Remember personal info?


Please note that I will never send you any unsolicited commercial email. Ever.

While I'm at it, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site.









Uniblue: Free Virus Scan

Search
Find just the answers you seek from among our 1700+ free tech support articles by using our Lijit search engine.


Member of the B5Media Network

Help!





Subscribe to
Ask Dave Taylor!

Add to Google Reader
Add to My Yahoo!
Subscribe in NewsGator Online

RDF   XML

Free Updates!
Sign up and get free weekly updates and special offers on books, seminars, workshops and more.


Recent Entries
Join the List!
Join my author info mailing list, where you'll learn about my upcoming books, speaking gigs, and more!


Book Links
© 2002 - 2009 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site.

[whiteboard marker tray]