@Monty: wait, I have to kiss someone's ass to get the free wi-fi at Starbucks?

Fump that.

Evan394

I'll continue visiting my local independent coffee shops, all with free, unlimited, no card and no BS WiFi access, and better coffee than Starbucks.

Starbucks can continue to suck it.

Shikestarr

Yet another example of why should not frequent Starbucks. I can get free WiFi at McDonalds without kissing someone's ass to do it. Oh, and their coffee is cheaper, too.

Monty

My local Starbucks has had ATT connectivity for some time now but didn't have the hardware (they said) to run get the free 2 hour service running. They said it would be operational "sometime this summer" so I don't know if it'll be up and running tomorrow.

nwjerseyliz

So, let me get this straight. I have to jump through hoops and get some kind of card and use it a certain amount so I can get only two 'free' hours of wifi? This when every other coffee house offers free wifi with no limitations or requirements? Thanks, I think I'll pass. They can keep their wifi and put it right on the shelf of things I'm not willing to pay money for, right next to their burned ass crappy coffee.

drewls

@zanella: Now if they can only jump on the 'good coffee wagon' they might get my business back.

Gann

So.... I already GET free wifi at JUST ABOUT EVERY OTHER local coffee house. Glad to see that Starbucks is finally joining the wifi wagon, even if it is several years late.

zanella

At least they're thinking of ways to try to get me in there.

To be honest, my first Latte was a Starbucks, but I don't like their coffee at all.
-nor their prices.
-nor the atmosphere in their locations.

I recently said the heck with it and bought a good coffee maker and better coffee for myself at home.
-where the Wifi is also quite free. :)

Stop by sometime, we tend to not charge for either one on a casual basis. :D

strider_mt2k

@Gann: tired.

I definitely plan on taking advantage of this. Sure, most of the other local coffee shops already have WiFi but the ubiquitousness of Starbucks makes it very handy when traveling or in parts of town that don't have local shops (like Midtown Manhattan).

weatherman

seriously, when are people going to stop buying starbucks? support your local coffeehouses people - they give you wifi for free.

tucker

"Free Starbucks Wi-Fi Launches Tomorrow"

- Must have Starbucks card
- Must buy coffee every month

Doesn't sound very free to me.

So if I didn't buy coffee ON MY CARD within the past 30 days, I'm screwed? If I jump in and buy a cup just to enable the WiFi service, will that work immediately?

Sounds complicated, and not very Free... unless the definition of Free has changed to include buying overpriced coffee. I'll stick to my tethered 3G iPhone thank you very much!

zombo

The great thing about starbucks is that all the employees are programmed to be the nicest people in the world.

CCCombobreaker

I smell failure. Just open the connection.

Aaron Martin-Colby

@zombo: Agree, this, by definition, is not "free."

makanai

@tucker: Absolutely!

DeadWriter

Starbucks can go suck a dick if they think that 2 hours of wifi is worth it for all the bullshit hoops that you have to jump through. Wow, 2 whole hours? Compared to basically every other coffee shop, this is still laughably horrendous.

Puck

The funny thing is there will be lots of Starbuckians that will rave about the new free, (sorta free,) WiFi.

... and the sheep graze on.

Nylo

Um, people, how many of you spend two hours per day in any coffee shop? C'mon, in principle, this sucks, but in practice, does it really matter? I imagine the Starbucks plan is to keep people who aren't customers from leeching their internet all day long. Given the on-every-corner of the country status of Starbucks, maybe that's a legitimate concern.

If you're one of the ones who don't like Starbucks coffee, then why do you care about this story, since you're not going there to buy the coffee anyways? Unless you're one who wants to just leech something for free. If that's the case, why do you think you deserve free WiFi access from a company you don't patronize anyways?

If you like Starbucks, are you there more than 2 hours per day (If so, get a life - LOL), if not, this is better tan nothing, which is what those looking for a freebie had until now.

@Monty: The only McDonald's I ever go to requires a password to access their free WiFi. Maybe it's not free nationally?

distortedloop

Starbucks can suck my lilly-white, hairy ass. Preferably after a huge, steamy dump.
Their shit is WAY overpriced and besides, what kind of dickhole business CHARGES for wifi in an establishment to which you are current patronizing??

Dook_In_The_Urinal

free wifi in manhattan is very rare. or in midtown at least.

MrBlahBlah

What is it two hours per coffee purchase? How much time will a pound of coffee beans get me? Will the Hours (minutes) be rollover? Might be worth it.. LMAO

genius74

I'm a shift supervisor at sbux. First of all, the sbux card is free. Secondly, the registration is free, and is mainly for security reasons in case you get your card stolen. Limiting the wifi to 2 hours a day for registered starbucks card holders is only to stop cheap bastards from leeching on internet all day from 5am-11:30pm. We already have mass amounts of bums trying to hog all our A/C, and now you want some fk tards sitting in your seat surfing myspace while you stand in the bathroom to drink your double tall soy white mocha w/ light whip?! huh?! DO YAH?

Noobaholic