As a self-employed guy, sometimes I like to take the laptop down to a coffee shop and work from there. I would never go to Starbucks because you had to pay through the nose to get onto T-Mobile’s crappy wifi plan. If I recall correctly, it was about $9-$10 for a single day of wifi access unless you were already a T-Mobile customer. It pissed me off. I go work at Panera Bread now because they offer free wifi.
Today I find out that Starbucks is ditching T-Mobile and going with AT&T.
“People want to stay connected to their world 24/7, and Wi-Fi hot spots, broadband and wireless make that mobility possible,” said Rick Welday, AT&T chief marketing officer, Consumer. “Laptops and smartphones give us the online mobility we crave, and now millions of AT&T and Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of their neighborhood Starbucks.”
The AT&T press release puts out some more details, and those details show this is progress, but not as good as I had hoped. Starbucks card-holders will get 2 hours of free wifi per day. So, you have to have a Starbucks card and, I assume, use it to activate your 2 hours. Otherwise, it will cost $4 for a 2-hour session. If you pay monthly, it will be $20 and will be free to all AT&T DSL subscribers.
This will make Starbucks better for meetings. Sometimes I do meet people at a Starbucks to talk business and it’s helpful to have wifi without gettting raped over the cost.
Still, Starbucks is just pulling a money-grubby Apple move, if you ask me. If you go to a Starbucks and pay that much money for a cup of coffee, free wifi should be a given. All you need is one internet account for the store and a wifi router. It’s not like this is a big deal for Starbucks. But, of course, they want to stick their hands in your wallet not only for the coffee that’s so strong you need a spoon, but also the wifi.
Starbucks is just taking advantage of it’s brand, partnering with Apple as well as with AT&T. There are even rumors of an Iphone interface for mobile ordering of Starbucks. Makes sense, from that perspective.
Nah, I guess I’ll continue to look for the coffee shops that actually give away wifi without trying to cross-sell me one stuff OTHER than coffee.
David Risley is the founder of PCMech.com. He is the brains, the thinker, the writer, the nerd.
Free E wifi?? Panera Bread all the way!!!
Nicer coffee too IMO 
Starbucks does not make money from their Wi-Fi. T_Mobile and AT&T set their prices, and maintain the networks. Starbucks just houses the equiptment essentially.
And things are not going so great at SBUX these days. Closing stores, and all. I don’t expect to see this for free at any point in the near future.