As a wise man once said , “ Starbucks giveth and Starbucks taketh away . ” Scant days after iPhone users cover ascertain complimentary entree at certain coffee chain locations that had switched to new Wi - Fi provider AT&T , that feature article now seems to have vanished into the divinyl ether .
I revisit the Davis Square , Somerville , location at whichI’d find devoid access last week . rather of the login screen that pronto accepted my iPhone act , I was greeted by a substance abuser login filmdom require for a drug user ID and password . While there did n’t appear to be an option to sign - up for Wi - Fi approach on my iPhone , the login blind seems to accept a variety of user certification , from AT&T Wi - Fi user to AT&T Remote Access user and customers of a variety of AT&T subsidiary and service , such as Prodigy , SBC , and SNET .
The reason behind the disappearance are no less faint as those behind the initial free access . An AT&T voice I talked to wane to notice , and Starbucks did not reply to a request for comment . While it ’s possible that this may but be a matter AT&T initially turning on this service earlier than intended , there also may be a more proficient account to the serve ’s disappearance .
The organization AT&T was using to notice iPhones relied on reading the guest ’s User Agent , a plaintext string that identifies the browsing software and platform of the machine . That string , however , is passing simple to spay — for legitimate reason ; it ’s often used by vane developers for compatibility examination . Safari users , for example , can masquerade as an iPhone merely by checking a box in the preferences to activate the Develop menu and then selecting the appropriate option from the User Agent submarine - carte du jour .
Some have speculated that the easiness with which users could obtain spare access for their laptops and other devices may have led to AT&T shutter the service , though whether that decision is temporary or permanent is unsung . We ’ll go along to follow the write up , go on you posted on any novel developments .
