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Starbucks to bring free Wi-Fi to all its stores

Doug b

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That's pretty awesome, considering the fact that since there's a Starbucks on practically every corner in NYC, that means free wifi everywhere !

Doug
 
roeiboot

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i haven't used it often but i thought it was free before ?.. i know Panera & McDonalds in my area has free WiFi.
 
pigoo3

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roeiboot said:
i haven't used it often but i thought it was free before ?.. i know Panera & McDonalds in my area has free WiFi.
Click to expand...

I was just about to say the same thing. WIFI at Starbuck's was free up to about 12-24 months ago (at least in the United States)...that's when Starbuck's went to some sort of "non-free" wifi.

I'm guessing that the "non-free" Starbuck's wifi program never worked out...and probably ticked off a lot of their loyal customers who used to appreciate the free wifi.

With McDonald's launching a line of "Coffee House" like coffees (at much lower prices than Starbuck's), and probably stealing a bunch of Starbuck's business (plus McDonald's having free wifi)...Starbucks had to cave-in and go back to free wifi.:)

- Nick
 
bargsbeer

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Starbucks is not exactly doing good right now closing stores all over the country it's no surprise they went with free wifi,Although I never go to Starbucks I guess is good if your one those people who sit outside starbucks with your Macbook Pro drinking a $8 coffee.
 
roeiboot

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yup, they have to do something to attract business...
 
schweb

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pigoo3 said:
I was just about to say the same thing. WIFI at Starbuck's was free up to about 12-24 months ago (at least in the United States)...that's when Starbuck's went to some sort of "non-free" wifi.
Click to expand...

That's not true. Starbucks used T-mobile for hotspot access previously, that wasn't free. They swtiched to AT&T for hotspots, that was only free for 2 hours or if you had an iPhone. It was never free, unless your local store decided to give it away for free which is definitely different than the norm.
 
roeiboot

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we/i must be living in a good area..
 
MYmacROX

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Yeah, Starbucks wi-fi was never free where I live (Phx, AZ) and neither was McDonald's until recently.
I read a similar story on this and it looks like Starbucks will have specific ads tailored to local business (i.e. an ad for a dealership down the street) somehow show up when you connect to their wi-fi. Probably some sort of banner that you can't remove/ignore.
 
Kash

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Took them long enough
 
bargsbeer

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chscag

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Actually, Starbucks changed their policy on WiFi when they switched from T-Mobile to AT&T. During the T-Mobile days it was not free, however, upon switching over to Ma Bell around 18 months ago they began to offer free WiFi if you purchased a Starbucks card. Any denomination. All you had to do was register the card on their web site with a log on ID and password and from then on WiFi was free at their stores.

I've used up my card long ago but can still access WiFi at any of their stores where they have it.

Regards.
 

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