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Apple iPhone owners: Free AT&T WiFi at Starbucks and Barnes & Nobles hotspots

Categories: Announcements, Apple, AT&T, iPhone,
By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 6:53 PM

AT&T WiFi HotSpot for iPhone at StarbucksWeb surfing on the iPhone is without a doubt an experience unrivaled in any other handset. Thanks to the incredible Safari browser and processing prowess of the iPhone, hitting the interwebs over the AT&T EDGE connection is great. But, mobile browsing with a broadband WiFi connection is simply astounding.

So, it’s good to hear that AT&T is committed to making the whole browsing-on-iPhone undertaking just a bit more enjoyable. Following on AT&T’s official push to replace T-Mobile as the WiFi HotSpot service provider at Starbucks stores in the US, AT&T has announced that it will be offering iPhone users complimentary access to their AT&T WiFi HotSpots at all Starbucks and Barnes & Nobles locations across the nation.

The iPhone-specific WiFi portal automatically detects your iPhone and offers up a custom login screen. Your iPhone phone number is all that is required to log in for unlimited WiFi access.

And, here’s a little secret, the iPhone WiFi portal at AT&T WiFi HotSpot locations determines your iPhone eligibility by detecting your iPhone User Agent. So, you could actually spoof the WiFi portal into thinking that your laptop’s Safari browser is actually an iPhone – as long as you have access to a valid iPhone phone number. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

On your laptop:

  • Fire up Safari
  • Navigate to Safari Preferences > Advanced and check the box under “Show Develop menu in menu bar”
  • Goto your Safari window and find the “Develop” menu
  • Navigate to Develop > User Agent > Mobile Safari 1.1.3 – iPhone
  • Log in and get free AT&T WiFi HotSpot access!

[Via: MacRumors]

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About The Author

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

  • John

    This is great. Now when I’m at B&N, I can check the price of books on Amazon before buying!

  • Phone-wiz

    I am hearing T-Mobile has sued starbucks for this turn around move to go with AT&T

  • Henry

    What the latest on this? I am at a starbucks in Wash DC and I do not see this customer screen. Please advise.