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story category SBC's $1.99 Wi-Fi
If DSL users sign a one year deal
(old news - 10:01AM Monday Oct 18 2004)
tags: wireless
SBC today announced the company will be offering their DSL subscribers access to their network of 3,900 public Wi-Fi Internet access points for $1.99 a month (regularly $20 a month). SBC has been one of the more aggressive companies in the Wi-Fi market, signing mega-deals to help bring Wi-Fi to both McDonalds and UPS stores. The promotion requires users sign a one-year deal.

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Forums » SBC's $1.99 Wi-Fi
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PhoenixDown
-- Ron Paul 2008 --
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:

Pretty nice deal.

I would love to use the wifi laptop more. It would be great if some of the cable companies started doing this too.
--
Final Fantasy
Goldman

join:2002-06-21
Maumelle, AR

Re: Pretty nice deal.

I can deal with this price. Anytime I fly I go early, but I just sit with no internet access, because the Freedomlink fees are so high. Good move SBC.

AJ5TT

join:2003-08-17
Friendswood, TX

I too would use my laptop or PDA more and would but the existing price of some hot spots is nuts. I understand that businesses need to recoup their investments but charging a high rate leaves you with the few "important" uses who must access their email etc. I for one can wait until I get to a spot where the cost is reasonable. At two bucks a month, I would use it and probably many more.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace

join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable
·BroadVoice

Verizon has been doing this for free in NYC for almost two years now. All residential Verizon DSL customers get free access to Verizons citywide wifi network. Now if only dsl was anyhwere near as good, reliable, or fast as cable I might actually switch.....
briand805

join:2002-10-05
Los Osos, CA

Re: Pretty nice deal.

"Re: Pretty nice deal.
Verizon has been doing this for free in NYC for almost two years now. All residential Verizon DSL customers get free access to Verizons citywide wifi network. Now if only dsl was anyhwere near as good, reliable, or fast as cable I might actually switch....." wifi4milez

Um.. well I have sbc Dsl and am synced at 6016/608 for $45 a month and get a steady 5100/520+ and have have had only one unscheduled outage in 8 months( think a car shaved a pole or hit a box).. compared to my Charter Cable( insert laughter here) which was always on the fritz had terrible support and was never near the advertised speeds..

lawilson2
Premium
join:2001-04-30
Chicago, IL

Nice...

When/where do I sign up? I'm in Chicago and would love to use this. I would need to know where their points were located though.

gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:

Re: Nice...

Just go here to find the hotspots »www.sbc.com/gen/general?pid=5949 just click 'freedom link hot spots' it appears to be down right now though.

lorick
Lorick Weather Live
Premium
join:2002-01-29
Eau Claire, WI

Re: Nice...

Beat me again...............

drmorley
Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-20
Park Ridge, IL
clubs:
No service at O'hare?!? I spend way to much time sitting in airports so if they actually starting service most of the major airports I might actually sign up for something like this.

lorick
Lorick Weather Live
Premium
join:2002-01-29
Eau Claire, WI
·Charter Pipeline
·AT&T Midwest

Here is the link with locations. The $1.99 price is not listed yet.

»www.sbc.com/gen/general?pid=5949

Here is another "Press Release" also.

»home.businesswire.com/portal/sit···sLang=en
--
Rick Jungerberg www.lorick.net

Mega DETH
It's All About The Ping

join:2003-08-20
Watertown, WI

Re: Nice...

I live a few blocks from a Hotspot, how close do you have to be to pick up a signal?
--
"Action does not equal Achievement"

lorick
Lorick Weather Live
Premium
join:2002-01-29
Eau Claire, WI

Re: Nice...

150 feet.
stunod2002

join:2003-11-07
Carol Stream, IL

Re: Nice...

said by lorick See Profile:
150 feet.

If outside I would say more like a couple of hundred feet. At most a full city block..
--
Stunod

Mega DETH
It's All About The Ping

join:2003-08-20
Watertown, WI
·AT&T Midwest

Re: Nice...

I suppose for the price it would be pretty nice, but with such limited range (or only 1 spot in our town) what's the point of having it.

not being negative, just that I must be uninformed about the whole WiFi craze
--
"Action does not equal Achievement"
ossito16

join:2004-07-31
Whiting, IN
go to ebay and search for "wardriving" or "toxic ranch" these have some nice wifi stuff. I have one of the 7dbi antennas with orinoco gold cards. my range is easily a block. could get more if a used that wifi cantenna.

kmac1
Off in new directions
Premium,VIP
join:2001-06-07
Port Neches, TX

Re: Nice...

That range also depends alot on signal inteferors, so I would say you should have more than a block in "most" open areas with the 7db. I have a 5db hooked up to a 2Wire PC card, which is an Orinoco clone and can easily pick a signal up in the 1/4-1/3 mile range.

lawilson2
Premium
join:2001-04-30
Chicago, IL
Thanks, there seems to be some nice locations. I hope libraries will be added, as well as other public places. I don't go to coffee shops or the UPS store at this time, but it's nice to have the option for 1.99/month.
McWizzard

join:2001-06-01
Plymouth, MI

Re: Nice...

Their offering must be generating a high volume of traffic to their site - it's almost impossible to pull up information of the current Hot Spots.

Anyone else having the same problem?

techwench
I Work For Food
Premium
join:2003-06-26
Oklahoma City, OK

Re: Nice...

Ditto. Just sits there spinning and trying to connect...

dadkins
Go For It
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast

Most Public Libraries(at least around here) offer *FREE* Wi-Fi. Like I pointed out several times before, with all the free offerings being offered, these pay sites are going to have to dramatically reduce the $20.00? $30.00? per month/$5.95 per day access fees... So it begins!
--
Nuke 'em all, let God sort 'em out.

lawilson2
Premium
join:2001-04-30
Chicago, IL

Re: Nice...

I was at a hotel in New Jersey last week, and they wanted $5 for 15 minutes of Internet use. I could have slowly strangled them for even considering that price. Needless to say, I went without Internet that week.

IronChefMoto
Premium
join:2001-02-08
Alpharetta, GA

Re: Nice...

said by lawilson2 See Profile:
I was at a hotel in New Jersey last week, and they wanted $5 for 15 minutes of Internet use. I could have slowly strangled them for even considering that price. Needless to say, I went without Internet that week.

I paid $10 for 24 hours of the slowest broadband I've ever seen (256kbps SHARED w/ the other guests) at a hotel a few months ago. I'll never do THAT again. I'd rather just surf with a modem...oh...wait...the bastards charge for local phone calls now too.

IronChefMorimoto
--
Desktop #1: Abit NF7-S 2.0 | AMD AthlonXP 2500+ | 1GB PC3200 DDR | 256MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Desktop #2: Shuttle SK41G | Athlon XP 1800+ | 512MB PC2100 DDR | Onboard Graphics
Laptop: Dell Latitude C810 | Intel PIII-M | 512MB PC133 SDRAM

amdaz
Premium
join:2000-12-29
San Francisco, CA
·Comcast

said by lawilson2 See Profile:
I was at a hotel in New Jersey last week, and they wanted $5 for 15 minutes of Internet use. I could have slowly strangled them for even considering that price. Needless to say, I went without Internet that week.

Come visit us in SF then
A lot of Hotels here provides Wi-Fi free for guests.

Furious bEz
fg-c.com
Premium
join:2003-08-13
Los Angeles, CA
Yeah, but no software for Macs. I do have a PC Laptop, but rarely used anymore.

All-in all, great offer though.

gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:

Re: Nice...

You don't need the software to use freedom link it just makes it easier to find hotspots from my understanding.

DrewCapu
Giant Diehard

join:2001-12-19
California
clubs:
And for those who aren't reading the links, it'll be free until April 15, 2005. I guess that means that SBC Park will continue to have it at no charge (at least for those who also have DSL) through the first homestand.

Furious bEz
fg-c.com
Premium
join:2003-08-13
Los Angeles, CA
·RoadRunner Cable

Re: No charge until April 15, 2005

Exactly!

I called Freedom Link Cust Serv. regarding the slow server for Hotspots. They stated server reconfigs as the cause for redirect errors.

After verifying my SBC Account status, he went on to state that the promotion is FREE to SBC users, otherwise the $1.99 fee will not be available until after April 2005.

steevio
Saving Lives One Shift At A Time

join:2003-06-22
Valencia, CA

Where is the $1.99 dudes?

I have an overly excited finger just itching to sign up!
But, where the heck is the offering?
When will they make it public?
Come on, come on, open, open, open, open.....
bspape2

join:2004-07-12
Lake Zurich, IL

BroadbandAccess

Sounds like a competitive response to BroadbandAccess (1xEV-DO) that Verizon Wireless is starting to offer. 1xEV-DO is not limited to hotspots or a 150 feet with typical speeds of 300-500 kbps, capable of reaching speeds up to 2 Mbps!!

bklynite
Premium
join:2001-03-18
Brooklyn, NY
clubs:

Re: BroadbandAccess

said by bspape2 See Profile:
Sounds like a competitive response to BroadbandAccess (1xEV-DO) that Verizon Wireless is starting to offer. 1xEV-DO is not limited to hotspots or a 150 feet with typical speeds of 300-500 kbps, capable of reaching speeds up to 2 Mbps!!

Not at all. Verizon has Wi-Fi access for its DSL customers in NYC. BroadbandAccess/NationalAccess is a $70/month Verizon Wireless (the connection between VZW and Verizon is very small) and is really more for business people.
--
W-Train.com Webmaster | »www.bklynite.com | I ♥ NY

spie34
Hmm
Premium
join:2004-01-06
Boise, ID

why>

I can understand like at the airports or hotels and such but for a person to have it so they can go downtown and be online? don't understand that really. i rather be out doing something other than sitting somewhere and surfing the web. but for business people that travel all the tiem I see that to be of great benefit.

oh and UPS? maybe for pdas I can see that reasoning but anything else? hey what are you doing today? gonna hang out at UPS so I can surf the web. Cool dude lets go j/k
mojito
Premium
join:2004-06-01
Fremont, CA

where in California?

I'm not sold yet. SBC has a habit of leaving out those of us on the west coast.

Tommy B

@pacbell.n

Question

Can a SBC customer on list swing by a UPS store & see if it works? Supposedly it's working now, without signing up; I wonder if that's true. (Logon w/current SBC ID & password.)

kmac1
Off in new directions
Premium,VIP
join:2001-06-07
Port Neches, TX

Re: Question

Yes, it works, at least for me.

But I'm still never without a hotspot while I run my external anteanne and a "certain" program to find them!

Even now, back in the field, I'm still "connected" to the Net about 60% of the time.

David
Last man standing
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs:
·magicjack.com
·AT&T Midwest

Can't say I have used it here in the midwest, I believe the field techs (aka adsl guy) can use the VPN forever, since I heard 1/2 of the reason for the initial investment for freedom link was the availability of info from the field to the center to get there faster. I cannot state I tried it but I hear till april 2005 those who have yahoo dsl should only need thier username and password to connect or you might ask the freedomlink page..

I think it is time to break out the wireless card and go find a hotspot and test it..

I know there is a UPS store in south STL that is not too far from a panera bread..
--
If you have a topic I have not responded to in the direct forum please be sure to reply to me... I get an e-mail when you do that so I know you updated your thread... Thanks David..
Forums » SBC's $1.99 Wi-Fi


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