Finally, Starbucks came to its senses. The ubiquitous coffee giant will begin offering unlimited free WiFi starting July 1, 2010. Previously, you had to register your Starbucks card, maintain a certain balance, and have used it regularly to get a free connection, and then only for two hours.
This move will certainly attract more customers and maybe win back those who switched to McDonald’s for their cheaper coffee and free WiFi.
Other places to get free Wifi:
Barnes & Noble – no purchase necessary
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf – technically no purchase necessary as WiFi code appears in super small font at the bottom of their TV monitors, but you’ll probably end up buying a drink or pastry
Peet’s Coffee – purchase necessary as WiFi access code is printed at the bottom of your receipt
Panera Bread – technically no purchase necessary but you’ll probably buy a sandwich anyway
Cosi – same as Panera
Readers added these suggestions:
Your local library
McDonald’s
Local indie coffee shop
Community centers
Colleges and universities
Where do you go for free WiFi?
June 15th, 2010 at 9:59 am
The Library
Local Independant Coffee Shop
June 15th, 2010 at 10:35 am
@Dan Doh! I can’t believe I forgot to list the library. Thanks for the reminder.
June 15th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Local libraries or community centers. My apartment complex offers free wi-fi in their community area, near the gym, around the pool (but becareful though!) and office center.
June 15th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Library, CSUN, Pierce (or other colleges), McDonald’s (doesnt seem to work at all locations though).
Starbucks was idiotic to make people pay and do all that stuff just for 2 hours. What a hassle that was. Now my stocks are going up. Yay!
Thanks for this; I was wondering where else one could get free wi-fi!
June 15th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
The Park! I live in Chicago and the park in my community (Lakeshore East) has free Internet!
June 17th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
That’s not even the best part!!!!
With the launch of their free wi-fi, Starbucks will be providing premium digital services for free!
Some include Free in store access to:
Wall Street Journal
Usa Today
Local News
Yahoo Services
Free music and other digital content downloads from Apple
and a bunch more.
These will be arriving sometime in the fall. CEO Howard Schultz announced it yesterday at the Wired Business Conference: Disruptive By Design.
June 17th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
That’s not even the best part!!!!
With the launch of their free wi-fi, Starbucks will be providing premium digital services for free!
Some include Free in store access to:
Wall Street Journal
Usa Today
Local News
Yahoo Services
Free music and other digital content downloads from Apple
and a bunch more.
These will be arriving sometime in the fall. CEO Howard Schultz announced it yesterday at the Wired Business Conference: Disruptive By Design.
July 1st, 2010 at 5:40 pm
http://www.wififreespot.com/ – listings by state
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:47 am
@chris h Thanks for sharing this site. I’ve used it before and it’s pretty good.