Coffee, Bean and Tea Leaf – Del Mar, CA

This is an example of a very bad broadband experience.  The supposed supplier is AT&T WiFi, previously called FreedomLink. The real supplier is Wayport according to the URL that shows up in the clear in my browser when it gets redirected.

Last week when I went in to grab a morning Espresso I tried to log on with my MacBook. I couldn’t get passed the SSID. All I saw was the URL change then nothing. I tried all three browsers on the Mac Book. Safari. Camino and Firefox, all the latest builds.

I called support and got the kind of support person I hate. One that won’t transfer you to a supervisor and one who thinks he knows it all. He tried to log me on from his side with the IP address I was pulling, still no joy.

Now, I’ve never had a problem getting on a Wayport or AT&T hotspot before either directly or using a Boingo account as a roamer. Seattle Tacoma Airport was the last place I remember using their service. I’ve even logged on before at this exact cafe.

End result and final grade: F — for Failure.

What did I do? I went to Starbucks. The coffee’s not as good, but the broadband always, always works.

Andy Abramson