Whirlpool

When I'm at a local WiFi hotspot (McDonalds South launceston) telstra gives me a list of payment options, but part of the deal with signing up for the iPhone plans was for us to have free access to these Hotspots.

Can someone tell me how to login to the Hotspot without charge?

chimichanga writes...

Can someone tell me how to login to the Hotspot without charge?

I would also like to know the answer to this!

I heard some people saying that u need to be using the apn telstra.iph and this needs to be added to your account. Im not 100% sure but maybe someone can conmfirm....

gee38l writes...

I heard some people saying that u need to be using the apn telstra.iph and this needs to be added to your account.

I have this already. I see the access points, but when I try to access them, it asks me to log in or to provide my telephone number and they will SMS me a password. So basically the access isn't seamless at all. Is this other people's experiences?

Yes, that's the way it works. It's not seamless connectivity.

Kire

the system is open to fraud though. If say one of your friends has a telstra account and you know their number you might put it in and they receive the SMS and call you with the password.
A bit dodgy if you're not in the same locale as you might get amessage. Saying access denied... You're supposed to be in mascot... Not cabramatta...

cool, so whats theis telstra.iph apn business then and how is it set up?

It doesnt seem technically *free* as you have to send an sms each time

chimichanga writes...

Can someone tell me how to login to the Hotspot without charge?

I have checked with Telstra. According to them, if you are on an iPhone plan with Telstra, it will be free. If you are not, they will charge your connection fees and it will appear in your mobile bill.

The SMS that you get from Telstra is purely a connection authentication/verification. Once you disconnect, you will receive another SMS telling you how long and how much it costs you.

Prophet. writes...

the system is open to fraud though. If say one of your friends has a telstra account and you know their number you might put it in and they receive the SMS and call you with the password.
A bit dodgy if you're not in the same locale as you might get amessage. Saying access denied... You're supposed to be in mascot... Not cabramatta...

If that's how it works, I'm surprised the technology doesn't let them use the
User Agent browser info to know it's coming from an iPhone, and doesn't then
provide the IMEI, or whatever it is that identifies the handset. It has to have
the MAC address, at least.

Well glad that got cleared up then! I rang two numbers, 1800iphone and the usual Telstra number and neither could tell me a thing, they are really are hopeless :(

I entered my mobile number and got a sms token number for me to authenticate, it then enables me to surf at this telstra wifi hotspot. When I finished using the service, I received a 2nd sms telling me the $ they are going to charge but it is free for iphone plan customers, they wrote (that was last night). Tonight, I tried using the same hotspot again and it wouldn't allow me to surf. I thought it was a one time authentication. I tried getting a 2nd token from them, no luck. Nothing works.
Please can someone help and explain how to use telstra wifi hotspot. I would be ever so grateful. I rang telstra 125111 and these people couldn't explain to me how to use telstra wifi iphone hotspots. They kept passing my call from one person to the next. It is so frustrating...

It's done via the SMS method described above.

If you have issues call 125 111 and speak to Faults. If they can not assist you ask to be transferred to the Wireless Data Customer Support department who have WiFi Hotspot Support as one of their roles.

oscyaki thank you. I have taken your advise and rung 125 111 and asked for Wireless Data Customer Support. They were trying to find out why I could not access the wifi hotspot. Anyway, this person wanted me to go back to the same wifi hotspot so that he could run a test on my iphone, haha. Funny right? He couldn't resolved my query therefore, he has given me a reference number and I am now on level 3. Told me that someone will contact me in 3 days time.

Anyway, I did managed to be at this wifi hotspot again last night and I managed to re-enter my mobile for another token number and got access to browsing. Now I understand that I need a token every time I browse, not a one time thing. I have not tried other Telstra wifi hotspot yet...

My experiences are much different!

If the wi-fi hotspot is named "Telstra", I don't have to go through the arduous SMS process. I just see a Telstra page that says "click here to start surfing for free" – it seems to recognise me as an iPhone user.

For some reason, if the wi-fi hotspot is named "Telstra CBD", I have to go through the SMS process.

The wi-fi hotspots seem to have different names throughout Melbourne CBD, but those are my experiences with the above...

I have the exact same beef with Telstra. They've bragged about the fact that Telstra plans include free acess to WiFi hotspots. He problem is I have to go through a silly authentication process each and every time I want to use it. Sometimes the login takes longer to do than the task I actually want done.

This is fine for people who need to pay for their services, but not for iPhone customers.

Not only that, but Telstra's coverage map shows WiFi access pretty much throughout the city (ie. between hotspots) this is NOT the case at all (you need to be in direct vicinity of the hotspot).

I'm not a huge data user, but I'm not sure how Telstra have the face to allow crappy data allowances and countering this with the whole free WiFi thing, when it is completely inconvenient for me to do so.

Not happy Jan!

One of the reasons I went with Telstra was free access to the hotspots throughout the CBD. This made the measly 3G data limit acceptable. But this requesting a PIN and entering a PIN for every hotspot is crap. I called Telstra and even got up to level 3 support, and guess what..... they couldn't of cared less.
I am not going to leave this issue alone; they are basically ripping us off. The service was marketed as though we would have seamless access to Telstra’s hotspot, but this is not the case. Instead they are encouraging us to use the 3G network with a tiny data limit.

retsel writes...

I am not going to leave this issue alone; they are basically ripping us off.

Entering a PIN number to ensure Telstra is billing the correct account is ripping you off???

Okay.... :|

I don't see how hard it is to open up the page – it already has your mobile number saved on it – click submit and enter a 6 digit number that comes to you in about 3 seconds.

Sorry but I fail to see the "ripping off" in this circumstance.

oscyaki writes...

Sorry but I fail to see the "ripping off" in this circumstance.

Making you do a manual task every time you connect is called 'labour'. You are trading your time for some wifi. That isn't 'free'. Not if you find yourself having to connect 10-20 times a day.

retsel writes...

One of the reasons I went with Telstra was free access to the hotspots throughout the CBD.

Hotspots in CBD will be a lot less now with the planned closure of Starbucks.

Telstra people are right to feel utterly screwed in this case.

As an Optus user I thought we had it bad that both the number of wifi points was woeful and access has been an issue... so much so that I have resigned myself to use only 3G and not worry about any wifi...

Telstra users don't have this luxury... I'd be mightily pissed off too...

JLDT writes...

Hotspots in CBD will be a lot less now with the planned closure of Starbucks.

Most of the CBD's streets are covered in Telstra wifi (at least in Sydney), and their weren't that many Starbucks around. Plus, we'll always have McDonalds.

I couldn't manage to access the wifi no matter how many times I entered the SMS token. Called 125 111. Their solution -> restart my phone. sigh....anyone please help me?

I have found many unsecured WiFi spots in most Malls and use them regularly. Many Phone dealers have them on and unsecured to demonstrate especially while Iphones are still selling.
Very handy and very very generous he he he he.

Can we not just use our laptops, enter the phone number and authenticte via the laptop and use the wireless for this instead of using it on the iPhone?

chimichanga writes...

When I'm at a local WiFi hotspot (McDonalds South launceston) telstra gives me a list of payment options, but part of the deal with signing up for the iPhone plans was for us to have free access to these Hotspots.

Can someone tell me how to login to the Hotspot without charge?

Login as if to charge to your post-paid account.

They will SMS you a token number, then you're connected to them.

when it goes to charge your bill, your account, which is an iphone specific plan, rejects the charge.

I just got my first bill. all usage is listed, but at 0 cost to me.

My wife had them do something to hers on the melbourne CBD Network at the T-Life so now she never has to use a token on the Melbourne CBD Network, but still does at maccas and starbucks etc...

Just need your mobile number and then enter the number provided via SMS.

Found the WiFi hotspots for Macca's useful during my recent trip from Sydney to Melbourne and back along the tedious Hume Highway :-D .

Bwad writes...

Can we not just use our laptops, enter the phone number and authenticte via the laptop and use the wireless for this instead of using it on the iPhone?

I suppose that effectively you're charging the wi-fi access to your
phone plan, and if it's an iPhone plan, then it would be free. As long
as you have your iPhone with you to get the password SMS, it's
probably OK. If it weren't an iPhone plan, then all they would do is
charge it on your phone bill.

If they wanted to, though, they could monitor the ethernet MAC
address to make sure it was from the iPhone (surely they'd have it in
their records). Of course, MAC addresses are easily clonable, so
maybe that's not feasible.

JLDT writes...

Hotspots in CBD will be a lot less now with the planned closure of Starbucks.

That's not exactly true, none of the CBD Starbucks are closing in Melbourne. Not sure about Sydney or Brisbane.

horsefd writes...

That's not exactly true, none of the CBD Starbucks are closing in Melbourne

CLOSED – 160 Queen St Ground Floor 160 Queen Street Melbourne
CLOSED – 440 Collins St Ground Floor 440 Collins Street Melbourne
CLOSED – Galleria Shop B17 Galleria Shopping Centre 385 Bourke Street Melbourne

Source: http://www.starbucks.com/australia/closures.pdf

Thats half of the Melb CBD stores gone....

Still open: (for now)

295 Swanston Street Melbourne VIC 3000
City Square 207 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3001
DFO Spencer Street Shops 201, 202 & 203 93 – 161 Spencer St Melbourne VIC

Source: http://www.starbucks.com/australia/stores.pdf