Today Mon Tue
It is forcast to be Chance of Snow at 10:00 PM EST on February 12, 2012
Chance of Snow
-1°/-4°		 It is forcast to be Clear at 10:00 PM EST on February 13, 2012
Clear
3°/-3°		 It is forcast to be Chance of Snow at 10:00 PM EST on February 14, 2012
Chance of Snow
6°/0°

6 Comments

news

Enjoy the Wi-Fi, Suckers

By warren

2005_01_29secondcup.jpgWhen you’re toting your laptop around and want to fire off a couple emails and post a blog update, Toronto is a pretty desolate place. Canadian Starbucks locations are not Wi-Fi enabled, though our neighbours to the south are able to buy access accounts that work in locations all over the country. Coffee chain Second cup, is now teasing the geek set with free Rogers hotspots. What’s the catch you ask? Well, let TOist tell you that after being a Rogers customer for five years, there is always a catch. It’s like a drug dealer giving a free dime bag the first time to get ya hooked, so you’ll always be back for more. The hook here, says our chatty server, is that the access is only free for three weeks and then they’ll start charging for the service. So sip that Americano slow, and enjoy it while it lasts.
It’s a really good business plan if you ask us. Torontoist prefers the darker roast and extra caffeine that Starbucks hooks us up with, but at the moment we’re posting from Second Cup and drinking the blandest latté we’ve had in months — ‘cause they have Wi-Fi! Yes, it’s sad to be such a slut to the technology, but at the moment it’s the only thing keeping the lap warm, if you know what we mean. Wireless is the bomb, but if Second Cup is going to pipe in Sarah McLachlan, then the Wi-Fi really ought to be free.
If you know of a business that has a wireless hotspot for their clientele, please post a comment and share it with us.

Filed under: , , , , , , ,

Report error Send a tip

Comments

  • http://www.torontoist.com sarah

    Hey Warren,
    Wireless Bandit, http://wirelessbandit.nerdsunderglass.com/
    has a comprehensive list/map of TO hotspots, and all the wireless news you could use.

  • http://boyreporter.blogspot.com Ron Nurwisah, Boy Reporter

    I think Sam the Record Man has free wireless. The problems is you’d actually have to sit in Sam the Record Man to use it. Their Wi-Fi might be good enough that you can get it across the street at Salad King. Mmmm Pad Thai and Wi-Fi.

  • http://work4bandwidth.blogspot.com mike w

    If my former home of Toronto is a desert for WiFi. Come down the 401 a bit to London. The major truck stop on the 401 has WiFi, but there is no hotspot in the city that is free. No hotspot you can sign up for. Well, you can sometimes pick up an open Linksys router here or there, but no coffee shops (also lacking here) have it. Florida and California on recent visits were awesome with my T-Mobile account. Starbucks, bookstores, and so on offered it. That was WiFi. :)

  • http://paigesix.blogspot.com Paige

    Second Cup doesn’t have to suck.. you just have to sweet-talk to servers so they know what you like and then they will make custom drinks for you.
    And yes, Mike I know all about that truck stop. Stupid Flying J WiFi, it’s always a tease for my laptop during the commute back to London…!

  • http://boyreporter.blogspot.com Ron Nurwisah, Boy Reporter

    The thing I loved was the Wi-Fi in NYC Libraries…. a lot of them beamed it out into the parks so in those nice summer days you can sit outside, type on your laptop and fight off squirrels and pigeons that want your Powerbook.

  • Matt