still out
Well, I'm out in Indiana and logged in from a Starbucks. We're heading back to the lake we're staying at soon, where I can't get any wireless reception, so this post will be short and not profound in the least.
Logging in at Starbucks here requires an account with T-Mobile, which is way too expensive. They want me to pay $6.00 for an hour, or $40 a month with the monthly plan, or $30/month for an entire year. That's about as expensive as my home internet, which I use much more frequently than I'll ever be here. I signed on with a free day pass today, but ever coming here again is going to be ridiculously expensive.
Wireless is going to be so necessary and so much a part of culture in the coming years that places like Starbucks need to view it as a way to bring in customers and NOT a way to make money. Or maybe we'll all be connecting through our cell phones, and Starbucks won't even be part of the equation. Still, if they want to capitalize on the laptop age while it lasts, they shouldn't let T-Mobile charge so much. If it doesn't come cheaper than this, I'm never doing it here again.
Is this the only way it works? Has anyone found anywhere better?
posted by RJ @ 1:10 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I don't know if this is better, but it's related. I heard the tail end of an ad the other day for buying a machine that provides wireless internet for like a 100ft radius. From what I gathered, you buy the machine, set it up in a public place, and make money depending on how many people use it. I'm not sure exactly on how people pay to use it though.
I have found that most Starbucks are in areas that are populated enough that I always detect at least one other network I can join. In your case, (Indiana? Lake?) that may not be the case. Sometimes you have to go to the street and walk around a bit, but if it is a town/city of any size/sophistication, I would think that you would be able to detect a free one.
Sure, j, but are you sure that your upscale metrosexual hipster open network is free (as in air) and not free (as in jailtime -- http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/06/0217252&tid=193&tid=17)
Sorry if that doesn't get linkified.
Hmm. I haven't found many home networks in these populated places where people are running their networks with any security less than WEP, meaning it all requires a network key to sign on. Very very few people are running their networks unsecured. Starbucks is, but their router does the checking for them to ensure you're paying.
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