Panera Bread now offers Wifi

we happen to go shopping with the wife,
and had a snack at Panera Bread -
As we walked in - there was a Wifi sticker on the window -
As this store was located in a outside mall with Target, Kohl, etc...
I thought the Radio Shack next to it was maybe supplying the signal.
Got home and as I type - have the Panera website up -
http://www.panerabread.com/wifi/
and it looks like they are offering Wifi hotspots for FREE ???
I'm gonna drag may laptop back over to the mall & try it out -
Phil -

In article <h8ufb.24537$(E-Mail Removed) m>,
(E-Mail Removed) says...

> Got home and as I type - have the Panera website up -
> http://www.panerabread.com/wifi/
> and it looks like they are offering Wifi hotspots for FREE ???

There is a growing body of opinion that insist that free wi-fi access is
where the world is headed. It will be a perq expected the patrons of any
hospitality-type business.

Now, I don't know if I'm ready to believe that, but I certainly
appreciate the line of reasoning. Its just that nature abhors a vacuum
and if there's a buck to be made, someone will make it. Time will tell
which business model, if any, prevails; pay-to-play or play-for-free.

Besides, how much does a freebie hotspot cost to operate anyway? About 50
bucks a month? Equipment cost is minimal That's a no brainer for attracting
customers. The question remains though, how many customers are dying to surf
the web during their coffee break, and will lug their laptops alongwith...

Tony


"Neb Revod" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) .net...
> In article <h8ufb.24537$(E-Mail Removed) m>,
> (E-Mail Removed) says...
>
> > Got home and as I type - have the Panera website up -
> > http://www.panerabread.com/wifi/
> > and it looks like they are offering Wifi hotspots for FREE ???
>
> There is a growing body of opinion that insist that free wi-fi access is
> where the world is headed. It will be a perq expected the patrons of any
> hospitality-type business.
>
> Now, I don't know if I'm ready to believe that, but I certainly
> appreciate the line of reasoning. Its just that nature abhors a vacuum
> and if there's a buck to be made, someone will make it. Time will tell
> which business model, if any, prevails; pay-to-play or play-for-free.

There's a new coffee shop in Romford (UK) town centre which is also a free
Wi-Fi hotspot but I don't think the owners realise it! It's an outlet of the
"Esquires Coffee Houses" franchise and has a smart line of LCD screens with
stickers which say "25 minutes of Internet access for £1 - coupon available
at the counter".
Out of curiosity, and strictly for research purposes, I fired up my wi-fi
enabled PDA which immediately detected the open "ReadytoSurf" network and I
was online in no time.
The responsible thing would be to inform the staff but I haven't done so
yet. What would you do?

Sometimes if you tell them they respond by sueing because you are
using the access! Be carefull and THINK ABOUT IT!

On Tue, 7 Oct 2003 15:05:33 +0000 (UTC), "Methuselah"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>There's a new coffee shop in Romford (UK) town centre which is also a free
>Wi-Fi hotspot but I don't think the owners realise it! It's an outlet of the
>"Esquires Coffee Houses" franchise and has a smart line of LCD screens with
>stickers which say "25 minutes of Internet access for £1 - coupon available
>at the counter".
>Out of curiosity, and strictly for research purposes, I fired up my wi-fi
>enabled PDA which immediately detected the open "ReadytoSurf" network and I
>was online in no time.
>The responsible thing would be to inform the staff but I haven't done so
>yet. What would you do?
>

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 15:53:25 GMT, f/fgeorge spoketh

>Sometimes if you tell them they respond by sueing because you are
>using the access! Be carefull and THINK ABOUT IT!
>

Drop an anonymous note in their suggestion box (if they have one), or
find some other creative way of leaving a message ...


Lars M. Hansen
www.hansenonline.net

well - we dragged our laptop to a local Panera Bread location
that was Wifi equip'd - and we are typing as we sit there -

My laptop was running XP, and my wireless card was set for "any"
connection -
the SSID I found with Netstumbler = panera

I still am scratching my head on how the local access point handles what
appears
to be any tcp/ip addressing - as I am not using DHCP and using static
definitions -
I have my laptop setup as static with 192.168.1.149 and the GW =
192.168.1.50

I did not alter these items - but merely tried to connect to a website via
my browser,
as the local instructions mention,
and up pops the local Panera WiFi website ????????????
how'd they do that ?????
http://www.qgo.biz/panera/index.cfm?OS
Phil -

"Phil Schuman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:h8ufb.24537$(E-Mail Removed) y.com...
> we happen to go shopping with the wife,
> and had a snack at Panera Bread -
> As we walked in - there was a Wifi sticker on the window -
> As this store was located in a outside mall with Target, Kohl, etc...
> I thought the Radio Shack next to it was maybe supplying the signal.
> Got home and as I type - have the Panera website up -
> http://www.panerabread.com/wifi/
> and it looks like they are offering Wifi hotspots for FREE ???
> I'm gonna drag may laptop back over to the mall & try it out -
> Phil -
>
>
>

Methuselah <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> There's a new coffee shop in Romford (UK) town centre which is also a free
> Wi-Fi hotspot but I don't think the owners realise it! It's an outlet of the
> "Esquires Coffee Houses" franchise and has a smart line of LCD screens with
> stickers which say "25 minutes of Internet access for #1 - coupon available
> at the counter".
> Out of curiosity, and strictly for research purposes, I fired up my wi-fi
> enabled PDA which immediately detected the open "ReadytoSurf" network and I
> was online in no time.
> The responsible thing would be to inform the staff but I haven't done so
> yet. What would you do?


I stayed at hotel that uses a hotspot from http://www.stayonline.net
I have DHCP on my laptop, and opening a browser opened their web page.
The opening web page had a login, and several service plans listed, but
also had a "free trial", which was a two week free trial, longer than my
stay, so I took it.

I couldn't get back to that page later, and I wondered how billing would
work if I visited some other hotel, or that same one, after my initial two
weeks.

email to stayonline support was answered that each property makes their own
rules, and that most don't ever charge. The web pages are set up for
charging, it just isn't turned on. Perhaps that's the case with this
particular coffee house.

That or they are using a weak DNS redirector, and your having static
setting just doesn't use the redirection.


--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

looks like the AP does all the magic & work -

http://www.goqgo.com/ComparePlatforms.html

pretty cool features -
auto IP config for the wireless users
URL redirect on first visit - welcome & AUP -
etc

You are probably within the range they have setup. You may have even
stomped on another connection but as long as you weren't both trying
to use the net at once it didn't make any difference.
And evidently the Gateway isn't important or you just "happened" to
hit therirs. Not likely but possible.

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 19:57:24 GMT, "Phil Schuman"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>well - we dragged our laptop to a local Panera Bread location
>that was Wifi equip'd - and we are typing as we sit there -
>
>My laptop was running XP, and my wireless card was set for "any"
>connection -
> the SSID I found with Netstumbler = panera
>
>I still am scratching my head on how the local access point handles what
>appears
>to be any tcp/ip addressing - as I am not using DHCP and using static
>definitions -
>I have my laptop setup as static with 192.168.1.149 and the GW =
>192.168.1.50
>
>I did not alter these items - but merely tried to connect to a website via
>my browser,
>as the local instructions mention,
>and up pops the local Panera WiFi website ????????????
> how'd they do that ?????
> http://www.qgo.biz/panera/index.cfm?OS
>Phil -
>
>"Phil Schuman" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:h8ufb.24537$(E-Mail Removed) gy.com...
>> we happen to go shopping with the wife,
>> and had a snack at Panera Bread -
>> As we walked in - there was a Wifi sticker on the window -
>> As this store was located in a outside mall with Target, Kohl, etc...
>> I thought the Radio Shack next to it was maybe supplying the signal.
>> Got home and as I type - have the Panera website up -
>> http://www.panerabread.com/wifi/
>> and it looks like they are offering Wifi hotspots for FREE ???
>> I'm gonna drag may laptop back over to the mall & try it out -
>> Phil -
>>
>>
>>
>