So I was at a McDonald's in town yesterday (the one in the Wintergarden Shopping Centre, to be precise) when I noticed a little sign on the order counter, "Free McDonald's Wi-Fi". I couldn't help but sit down with my laptop and give it a shot.
The first thing you are greeted with when you connect and open up your browser is a standard captive portal page, forcing you to accept the terms and conditions of access (McDonald's wont be held liable for anything, please dont abuse this service, blah blah blah) before being able to proceed with browsing.
Customers receive a 50mb data allowance per day, and the connection speed leaves much to be desired (YouTube = Awful), though it is enough to check e-mails and update one's self with the latest happenings in the news (yayyy?).
Me being the awesome geek that I am and all, I managed to use my 50mb allowance up in a period of 30 minutes but I used my uber-nerd powers to find a way around the data allowance :) It involves changing the wireless adapters network address (or "MAC address") to fool the router into thinking you are a new client!
I think that more places should offer their customers free Wi-Fi access, be it with or purchase or not. It's great incentive to stop by and grab a bite to eat/a coffee, and is very convenient! I wouldn't have eaten at McDonald's had it not been for the Wi-Fi ;)
Libraries in particular are ideal places to provide Wi-Fi access and it is great to see that Brisbane Square and a couple of other BCC libraries do provide this... BCC's internet is VERY FAST too, unlike the wireless provided by the State Library of QLD over at Southbank, which is SO SLOW it is near impossible to retrieve mail.
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I hope you enjoyed reading and can make use of these services :)
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