Starbucks at Tampa Avenua and Victory Boulevard in Reseda: July 2008 Archives

I roll into Starbucks a bit after 9. There's barely any line at all.

I ask for the venti drip, dark roast.

They actually have it.

The guy fills the cup, gives it to me, runs my Starbucks card through the register, I put in the half-and-half and I'm out.

And yes, it was good for me, too.

After weeks of laziness, I finally hooked up my Starbucks card to the free AT&T wireless Internet service available at many of the company's zillion stores.

The catch, such as it is, is that you must have a Starbucks card — one of those little gift-card-like things that can carry a balance. That card must have a balance, have been used recently ... and you get two consecutive hours of service:

Complimentary Wi-Fi for Starbucks customers When you register your Starbucks Card and use it at least once a month, you'll receive two consecutive hours a day of complimentary Wi-Fi, courtesy of AT&T.

Complimentary Wi-Fi for AT&T DSL customers
AT&Ts more than 12 million DSL customers already qualify for free Wi-Fi at their neighborhood Starbucks.

Competitive pricing for paid Wi-Fi
All other customers can receive two consecutive hours of Wi-Fi access for $3.99.

So if you already have AT&T broadband service, and if you live in the L.A. area, chances are good that you do, you can get the free Wi-Fi without even registering your card. (I have DSL Extreme, which uses AT&T's lines but its own routers and equipment, and thus doesn't qualify, but I figure two hours should do it for me.

For those hankering to know more about my experience from the technical side — and I know you do, especially you, Sharon Kaplan — I tested the broadband speed at this very Starbucks with the CNET Bandwidth Meter Speed Test and got the following results:

509.3 Kbps

That's not bad for 802.11b wireless. For comparison's sake, the average DSL connection promises bandwidth between 384 Kbps and 1.5 Mbps. My home connection used to hover around 1 Mbps but has been more 600 Kbps since an AT&T "repair" restored the connection when it was down, rendering it operable but slower.

But free and 509 Kpbs are totally acceptable things when grouped together.

And since this laptop, the venerable $15 Laptop, a 1999-vintage Compaq Armada 7770dmt running Puppy Linux 2.13 and the Seamonkey Web browser, has no battery (but curiously can accommodate two — one in the battery slot and a second in the CD/floppy slot), I needed electrical power and found it. Teat of Starbucks, I'm sucking on you pretty darned hard.

And in case you were wondering — and I know you were — they were out of dark roast when I reached the front of the line. The baristas were ready to make a fresh batch, but I'm tired of complaining and have resigned myself to a life marked by cup after cup of Pike Place Roast. I'm tired of waiting, tired of complaining, and free Wi-Fi is going a long way toward pacifying me.

Score one for Howard Schultz. I like free.