That’s right folks! After months of speculation and rumors, iPhone owners can now use the Wi-Fi available at their local AT&T Hotspot at no additional charge. We thought it was ridiculous that this didn’t come pre-packaged with the iPhone considering that most iPhone owners are using the web more than their minutes. If you haven’t received this golden text message on your iPhone yet, we’ve got the scoop on how you can get access to free AT&T Wi-Fi on your iPhone.
Accessing AT&T Wi-Fi From Your iPhone
On Wednesday I received a text message from AT&T. This isn’t unusual if you’re an iPhone owner and still on the AT&T network. However the following text message probably made just about every iPhone owner run to the nearest coffee shop with an AT&T hotspot:
“AT&T Free Msg: Your Apple iPhone now has free AT&T Wi-Fi access at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. “
AT&T hotspots can be found at thousands of locations. A huge emphasis is being placed on hotspots at Starbucks due to their new partnership that converted thousands of T-Mobile hotspots into AT&T hotspots. We all know that a Starbucks can be found on just about every corner and if not, there’s always Barnes and Nobles.
Can I Use it on my Laptop Too?
In my personal tests at my local Barnes and Nobles I was able to connect my iPhone without a hitch. All it took was selecting the correct Wi-Fi network and my phone number to get things going. From there, a text message was sent to my iPhone with a secure link to access the hotspot. According to AT&T the link is only valid for 24 hours. Also, if you relocate to another hotspot you’ll have to request a new link. Unfortunately, copying the link into the address bar of my laptop did not allow me to access the Wi-Fi from my laptop instead of my iPhone. Will we see a work around for this in the future?