by Gary Rea (c) copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved
Being the owner of a new WiFi-enabled laptop (a netbook, to be exact), I’ve been getting a first-hand education in obtaining free wireless connections wherever I go. Among the lessons I’ve learned is that Starbuck’s supposedly “free” wireless access, provided by AT&T Wireless, is anything but.
First, I looked up Starbuck’s online and read about their “free” WiFi. It sounded great, but there was much information left out, as I discovered when I asked a Starbuck’s employee about it later. He told me I’d have to pay $5 for a card that had the access code printed on it and then I’d be able to access Starbuck’s “free” WiFi at any Starbuck’s location – for two hours at a time, that is. Underwhelmed by this offer, I decided it wasn’t worth it, especially since these cards need to be “renewed” after so many uses – at an additional $5.
This is only the tip of an ugly WiFi iceberg, though. As I discovered on New Year’s Day, while having breakfast at a Starbuck’s, if you try to connect to a wireless router – even someone else’s – at some point, you’ll get a Starbuck’s/AT&T WiFi login page popping up on your browser, whether you want it to or not. Even though I was connected to the WiFi router for the closed library across the parking lot from Starbuck’s, at some point (right in the middle of trying to send an email), Starbuck’s highjacked my connection.
I found I was unable to send the email from Yahoo Mail, which I was logged into at the time. After several tries, I finally copied my message to the clipboard so I wouldn’t lose it, then I hit the refresh button. Instead of refreshing my Yahoo Mail page, Firefox then loaded the Starbuck’s/AT&T login page, instead. No matter what I did to get back to Yahoo Mail, including closing Firefox and restarting it, I was unable to get back to Yahoo Mail and, in fact, all attempts to do so resulted in a never-before-seen page warning me that Yahoo Mail is somehow an “untrusted site.” I checked my WiFi connections again and found that, even though I’d reset my connection to the library, Starbuck’s had again highjacked my connection.
Not only this, but, in Firefox, I use a plugin called “Speedial” that allows me to set up images of my favorite websites as one-click links to those sites, and I have this set as my homepage. Well, not only had Starbucks/AT&T highjacked my WiFi connection, but they’d also reset all my Speedial images to show only the Starbuck’s/AT&T login page!
I was finally able to get back to Yahoo Mail and send my message by quickly connecting to the library’s router again and then sending my email. Lesson learned: even if you’re using some other WiFi service while sitting in a Starbuck’s, your WiFi connection can – and, apparently will – be highjacked by Starbuck’s WiFi router, whether you’re signed up for Starbuck’s “free” WiFi access or not.
This may seem like a minor annoyance, at first glance, until one considers the implications for WiFi privacy over unsecured networks and how this plays into the New World Order. The message I was trying to send at the time was about the so-called “underwear bomber” and I was pointing out to the recipient that I believe the whole thing to be another false-flag event intended to serve as a pretext for expanding the “War on Terror” to Yemen, while at the same time expanding the NWO controls over our waning liberties.
Also chilling was that, during my writing of this message – before I’d even attempted to send it – I was doing a search for information on a particular NWO hand gesture (the “A-Okay” sign) and, when I typed the term “satanic” into the Google search field, it was immediately afterward that I temporarily lost my WiFi connection. Coincidence? Well, it happened three times in a row, so maybe not. It was also probably at this moment that my connection to the library’s WiFi router was highjacked by Starbuck’s/AT&T.
So, what does all this mean? Well, I don’t think I’m at all being paranoid when I say that I believe it shows how our “free,” unsecured wireless connections to the internet are being monitored in real-time. Whether by the NSA or someone else, this should come as no surprise to anyone who is even mildly aware of the New World Order’s encroachment upon on our freedoms. As I’ve written before, there is a reason why the internet was “given” to the private sector by the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, in the first place. The internet itself – designed and developed by DOD, the NSA and Sun Microsystems – is the world’s largest datamining operation, sucking in huge volumes of data every second, most of which is being willingly – and unwittingly – supplied by a gullible public, worldwide. Given that, it is no surprise to me at all that an entity like AT&T can monitor WiFi connections in real-time and even change active connections as they are being used.
Feb 14, 2011 @ 00:41:02
Anytime you’re on someone else’s wireless connection they have the ability to redirect you to the “homepage” of their choice.
You can choose the networks you wish to join by going to the properties by going to the wireless network connection property window and unchecking the boxes for he networks you don’t want.
Spying on others goes both ways. If your using firefox, try firesheep to pick up the data of others around you.
Just don’t check anything vital if you’re on an unsecure wireless network or VPN it.
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Nov 22, 2010 @ 17:27:34
Yes, Nonstick,…when you can GET a connection, that is. But, as it turns out, there may be a downside to wireless, also:
http://www.switched.com/2010/11/22/wi-fi-radiation-harms-trees-study-says/
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Nov 22, 2010 @ 17:25:35
It turns out now, you don’t have to buy a card at Starbuck’s anymore. It’s totally free access.
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Nov 22, 2010 @ 12:44:58
i like wireless internet because you can surf anywhere and you can avoid those ethernet cables ““
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Oct 05, 2010 @ 21:16:49
I Fixed the jumping networks problem by stopping the microsoft zero configuaration service. I was able to stay connected to my preferred network until I restarted my pc.
but anyway I have a gift card and I’ve had it for over a year. It might be that I refill the card but I haven’t had to pay anything. That $5 goes to credit for coffee that you buy. It’s a pretty good business model since you want paying customers to use the wireless. I was more concerned if Starbucks servers track usage via the wireless to your starbucks card to your credit card, which they probably do.
I want to know if it’s safe to surf old lady porn while sipping on a comfy latte.
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Jul 25, 2010 @ 23:38:40
Thanks for the update, Liz. Meanwhile, everywhere else, including Tully’s, it was free, to begin with.
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Jul 25, 2010 @ 19:00:58
I work for the sbux company and I think you were misinformed about the “free” wifi. What you had to do was get a Starbucks gift card with a minimum of $5 on it… Make a purchase with that card (which you would have done anyways right? You came in for at least one drink?). Then you take that card and register it online. You would have been allowed to register the card as soon as you opened you internet browser. Then you simply log in with the account you had just created. Yay 2 hours of wifi a day. However, since July 1st it is now completely free and you do not need to have a Starbucks card. So now it really is free. Before this it was technically free because you were spending the money on a card to purchase your drink. So it was an annoying step but really it’s not like you had to actually pay for the access.
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Mar 03, 2010 @ 05:54:49
Yes, Zach, and that’s exactly what I did, though Starbuck’s server made several attempts to hijack my connection before I finally got it to stop doing so. To be fair to Starbuck’s I’ve since encountered the same problem in other locations with other free WiFi providers. It seems that once you’ve established a connection with a particular network, Windows will then attempt to connect to it again if it’s within range, even if you’re using a different network.
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Mar 03, 2010 @ 05:47:39
If you just told your wireless card not to automatically connect to the Starbucks network you would’ve used the library’s network fine.
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Jan 23, 2010 @ 21:13:43
I’m not sure about the level of security with free wifi networks but I think you got the wrong idea about the free wifi deal at Starbucks. The card is just a prepaid card with no fee. All the money you pay for the card goes to your coffee (or whatever you order). They told you $5 because $5 cards were the cheapest card available. If you use it up you just reload it. You can do it online after you register your card. The card supposedly never expires. I just got my $15 card I ordered online (there was no fee, not even for shipping) and used it for the first time. It worked great. I wish I had known about it long ago. So their wifi is virtually free (for 2 hrs) for everyone as you go there and pay for your order anyway to sit down and go online. ( …or maybe you don’t even need to use the card every time. I’ll try to log-in w/o making purchase and see what happens next time 😉 )
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Jan 02, 2010 @ 19:51:55
Well, after about five minute’s research, I’ve determined that, as I thought, IRC is Internet Relay Chat, of course. What channel 4 is, exactly, isn’t entirely clear to me, but the fact that it has to do with IRC doesn’t seem to be necessarily related to WiFi access. In fact, I found no mention of IRC/4Chan in relation to WiFi. So, Ben, maybe you’d like to explain how using IRC has anything to do with using Starbuck’s “free” WiFi?
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Jan 02, 2010 @ 19:33:21
Well, Ben, as I said, I’m new to WiFi, however, I’m not at all new to computers, which has nothing, necessarily, to do with wireless access. I’ve been using computers in my work on a daily basis for over twenty years, thank you. The only thing new to me is wireless internet access. So, what the heck is IRC/4Chan, you’re the “expert?” All I’m using is the existing “free” WiFi connection available at whatever location I happen to be at. It’s not like there is anything else to select from. In fact, Windows only shows me what wireless connections are available and, assuming any of the available options is unsecured, then I can connect. If they all require a passkey, then, obviously I’m SOL. So, what brilliant solution would you, in all your great experience and wisdom, recommend, hmmm?
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Jan 02, 2010 @ 02:28:12
Yeah, sure…
Sounds to me like a) you don’t know a whole lot about computers, and b) you’ve got IRC/4Chan as a source.
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