Skip to main content

Starbucks’ Free Wi-Fi Goes Live July 1

Image used with permission by copyright holder

As promised earlier this month, giant coffee chain Starbucks will be offering free Wi-Fi in its U.S. and Canadian operated stores as a way to bring in customers bearing notebooks, netbooks, mobile devices, smartphones, and WiFi-enabled gaming units. Although Starbucks has offered up to two hours of free Wi-Fi to members of its My Starbucks Reward program—and folks with Wi-Fi benefits via AT&T have been able to tap into the Internet at the coffeehouses—Starbucks is throwing the doors wide open tomorrow. If you have Wi-Fi gear, you can use it at Starbucks, no headache required. Although they hope you’ll buy a snack or a beverage.

“Our customers were asking for a simplified Wi-Fi offering, and free Wi-Fi has been a top request on MyStarbucksIdea.com,” said Starbucks CEO, president, and chairman Howard Schultz, in a statement. “We’re excited to turn this feedback into action and believe our customers will be delighted with the enhanced experience they’ll find in Starbucks stores.”

The free Wi-Fi capability will span nearly 6,800 Starbucks locations in the United States and another 750 in Canada. Starbucks is sticking with AT&T as its backend provider for Wi-Fi and Internet connectivity in the U.S.; Starbucks has been working with AT&T on Wi-Fi offerings since 2008. In Canada Starbucks runs the service in conjunction with Bell Canada, in an arrangement that goes back to 2005.

Later this year, Starbucks also plans to introduce the Starbucks Digital Network, which will operate in U.S. company-owned stores (rather than franchises) and offer free, unlimited access to a set of usually for-pay sites and services and content, as well as local community news and free downloads. Starbucks Digital Network will be a partnership with Yahoo.

Editors' Recommendations

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
What is Li-Fi? A faster, more secure wireless internet is just around the corner
Li-Fi transmitters pictured.

Li-Fi technology has the potential to give us faster, more secure wireless internet access, even in busy environments where there is already heavy Wi-Fi coverage. It's not a replacement for Wi-Fi, but an augmenting technology that could work alongside it to offer an additional spectrum for devices to utilize, as well as a way to limit access to the network utilizing the very nature of this light-based technology.

Li-Fi has the potential to revolutionize not only the way we all get online, but it could even replace some of the mountains of cables that make up the backbone of the modern internet.
What is Li-Fi?
Li-Fi is short for Light Fidelity and is a communication system that utilizes light, rather than radio waves to transmit the data. A Li-Fi network uses infrared LED lamps to transmit and receive data, using modulations in the light intensity to create the digital signal which carries the information to and from various networked devices.

Read more
How to change the Wi-Fi channel on a router
Netgear's Nighthawk RAXE500 tri-band router.

If you’re constantly struggling with dropped Wi-Fi connections or are dealing with pesky buffering when you’re streaming online videos due to slow Internet speeds, you’re not alone. According to a 2021 Parks Associates study, more than 40% of U.S. households with broadband have experienced Wi-Fi issues, including slow speeds, connection dropouts, and difficulty connecting devices to the Internet. Although you could just buy a new router, you don't have to. Solving these issues involves a simple fix, and the problem may not even rest with your Internet service provider (ISP) or your current hardware.

Read more
What is Wi-Fi 7: Everything you need to know about 802.11be
Checking a Wi-Fi router and internet connection on a phone.

Wi-Fi 7 is the latest evolution in the 802.11 IEEE standard of wireless networking, and it's the direct sequel to Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. It's faster, offers improved support for a greater number of simultaneous connections, and will be more adaptable, to better maintain low-latency connections. It will be an excellent solution for streaming ultra-high-definition video to multiple devices simultaneously, and may find use in future wireless virtual reality and augmented reality headsets.

There aren't many Wi-Fi 7 devices or routers available just yet, but a soft launch has already begun in China, and that rollout will gather sped in the coming years. To get you ready for the next generation of Wi-Fi technology, here's everything you need to know about Wi-Fi 7.

Read more