I remember reading last summer that Starbucks was offering two free hours of wifi for patrons…
In subsequent months, despite having purchased numerous gift cards, owning an iPhone and spending countless hours in Starbucks across the country, I still had not been able to access this mysterious free internet.
Well, I finally figured it out!
Here’s how get online at Starbucks for free** in under five minutes…assuming a short line :)
1) Get in line and purchase any Starbucks Gift Card (just put some nominal amount of money on the card, such as $5).
My preference is the Mini Card. When you get it, make sure to scratch off the back to reveal pin (see image below):
2) On your laptop (or smartphone) select the AT&T wifi network. You will now be able to access the Starbucks homepage
(see image below):
3) From the Starbucks Homepage, you need to sign-up for the service and register your card.
From the homepage select “Sign up for Free Wifi” (see image below):
4) Now either create a new account (if you haven’t done this before), or you can assign a new card to your account (see my note below on making sure you are using an “active” card)
*Note: you will both be registering with Starbucks and with AT&T. (see image below):
5) Once you have filled out your personal account details, you will receive an email back to confirm your account.
6) After confirming your account, return to the homepage and select the drop-down for “AT&T� wifi.
Enter your User Name and Password and checkmark the Terms of Service.
Hit “Log In” and you’re good to go for two hours! (see below):
Notes:
**If you have a card, but can’t get online… This is a bit confusing. Starbucks only allows you to get online as long as your card has money on it and has been used at least once in the last 30 days. “Using your cardâ€� means either adding more money to it, or making a purchase. So once you have purchased a card for say $5 just remember to use it to make a purchase once every 30 days and then add the same amount back to the card to keep it active. If the card becomes inactive from lack of use you can simply add more funds to the card — you do not need to purchase an entirely new one.
If you need more than 2 hours… There are several option to purchase wifi separately such as a full-day of access for $3.99. Also if you have a Boingo account you can use that.
More Resources:
How to get free wifi at Starbucks via eHow
User Agent Switching for free Wifi at Starbucks and Barnes & Noble via Lifehacker
Free Wifi at Starbucks (Finally)! via Scott Means
