It is?

It's about time it they did this! McDonald's WiFi prices make for an expensive fix.

/internet is my drug

so I can jack me some MP3 files while snarfing down a grease burger.

cool!

Starbucks used to offer free Wi-Fi. Not anymore, at least as a general rule. You have to have a pre-paid card, or purchase something and ask for an access code.

They've had free wifi at the McDonalds around here for at least a coupla years now, I thought it was nationwide.
Starbucks offers free wifi on certain plans, like for example, it's always free on an iPhone. If you register a Starbucks card online, you get 2 hours of free wifi a day.

Starbucks wifi isn't free, either pay for it as you go or get a Starbucks card, register it and then use it at least once every 30 days. For me that works out to about $10 a month that I put on the card. A bit over 30 cents a day for good wifi is pretty darn cheap.

McDonald's has gourmet coffee? That shiat is farking nasty. I may not be a big Starbucks fan, but at least their overpriced mess is drinkable.

The McDonald's in Kirksville, MO has had wifi for a while. Not sure if it was free before or not.

Are you guys actually saying Kirksville has something cutting edge here?

It was only very technically $2.99.

I've done wireless at McDonald's at least a dozen times in the last three years. (I'm not a proud man). I have DSL at home, so I had free access. I'd buy a cup of coffee, and without fail, the manager would see the laptop tucked under my arm at the counter and offer me a free WiFi code-card.

I know there are a million open APs out there, and almost as many independent coffee shop with WiFi. So noted. But, when I find myself in Brookings, SD or Salem, MO at 7 AM and need a WiFi hit, finding McDonald's is nice and easy.

Best free Wi-Fi spot I had used to be a bar and grill place called Old Chicago in OKC. They had a great selection of beers and an excellent staff, so you could hang out, watch sports on their large screen TV's, eat pretty decent food, and surf the web on your laptop or palm, all while drinking a great beer.

Hell, why do I need to go home when I have all of that at my bar!

If you have certain Verizon DSL/FIOS plans you can get free wi-fi at Starbucks and other locations providing you are running Windows.

This surprises me because everything about a McDs is subtly or not-so-subtly designed to get you in, fed and the hell out in 20 minutes or less, from the menu choices to the chairs that are uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time to the tables that can't be moved together to accommodate a large group that might want to sit and chat. That's the reason North American McDonalds don't serve beer unlike the ones in Europe where you can buy an overpriced Heineken to go along with your crapburger - they're not anti-alcohol, they just don't want to give you any reason to linger after your meal, so I'm not seeing why they'd offer WiFi.

drjekel_mrhyde: It has been free to At&t DSl subs for a while

There's a map for that

propasaurus: They've had free wifi at the McDonalds around here for at least a coupla years now, I thought it was nationwide.
Starbucks offers free wifi on certain plans, like for example, it's always free on an iPhone. If you register a Starbucks card online, you get 2 hours of free wifi a day.

AT&T WiFI which is in Starbucks and McDonalds has been free for the iPhone since the launch and for AT&T DSL subscribers. AT&T bought Wayport which was in McD's and Starbucks switched from T-Mobile to AT&T wireless.

That explains the above posts imagining that the WiFi was free.