While enjoying the gorgeous Surfers Paradise this morning, I headed to Starbucks for the daily caffeine hit and thought I’d make use of some free WiFi while I’m here. When asking about it, I was provided with a printed one-time use access code. Starbucks WiFi is now limited to 30 minutes per order. So my question to the readers is, what do you think this is an acceptable time period for free WiFi? If not, how long do you think should be offered?
Clearly time limiting the WiFi is a response to its abuse by some customers, who would order one item and spend all day leeching internet. I’ve been to plenty of venues that offer slow, but unlimited time periods. Speaking of speed, Starbucks got 6.9Mbps down and 0.83Mpbs up, not bad compared to some McDonalds WiFi that struggles to hit 1Mbps.
So is it better to have decent speed for 30 minutes, or slow unlimited?
As the ticket explains, you can get another code for 30 minutes more by purchasing another drink. If you were really tight on money, you could order the smallest / cheapest drink they have. To be fair, motel WiFi is much, much more expensive.
