Whirlpool

Hey forum members,

I Work at McDonald's and we just received flyers and posters for free wifi there. The flyers were shrink-wrapped, and since i found them in the office i didn't want to open them, but I'm assuming the flyers have a code which you enter into a landing page.

Then i puled out my iphone, connected to our telstra hotspot, but, alas, there was no button for anything like "enter brochure code".

So, maybe in the next few days or so, there will be someone there upgrading the wifi. I'm also assuming that this will be rolled out to other restaraunts around australia.

All in All, i'm glad my workplace now has free wifi!

Without giving too much away does this look like
just one cafe or is this widespread ?

Anyone else with other info on this ?

They have it in the UK so I guess it's quite plausible they'd do it here....except Telstra might not like it!!!

http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/pages/companyinfo/freewifi.html

That is cool. Keep the punters there munching fries.

In a way I reckon it should be free.
In another way that would be bad. It's bad enough seeing teeny boppers sitting around Maccas thumbing their phones let around have Rich Teeny Boppers hanging around on laptops!
Having it free is only going to attract the wrong crowds in my opinion.

SSGuru writes...

let around have Rich Teeny Boppers hanging around on laptops!

Laptops are like $500 now days. If they were that much in my time, I would have had one for sure. Affording $500 is hardly Rich

Having it free is only going to attract the wrong crowds in my opinion.

One of Mcers main demographics is young people.

Smart move by McDonalds Australia, especially considering they do the "half price meal deal" for police officers. Cheap security. :)

That'll certainly influence my buying power, even though I have a soft spot for KFC... It'll be good to check my email while waiting for a coffee and muffin from the Bathurst McCafe. :D

Last time I used McDonald's WiFi, I was sitting inside my hotel room since I needed Internet access and McDonald's had the only WiFi signal in the area. If it was for free that would be a bonus!

So there is apparently a purchase, so one of
Maccas latest creations and would you like wifi with that ?

Bad Joke Incoming : ))

Dave Lister writes...

So there is apparently a purchase, so one of

Maccas latest creations and would you like wifi with that ?

Bad Joke Incoming : ))

I lol'ed :P

I suppose the question is how much cash and
colesterol for wifi …

If it is too much then the $2 for 21 mins cafe wins

I suppose all the shopping malls will match the offer
in some way and that is a good thing …

Dave Lister writes...

I suppose all the shopping malls will match the offer

in some way and that is a good thing …

We travelled through Asia last year and free wireless hotspots were all over the place. Especially coffee shops – Starbucks etc. I found it was great. and it did appear to work well for them. Most of the coffee shops/cafe's that offered free wifi were pretty full.

Let's hope that it becomes a trend and continues!

It's sad isn't it. We see ourself as a developed nation, I wonder what the rest of the world thinks of us ?
I think our biggest problem is we don't complain, we seem to just accept the status quo. We should demand free net access at all public venues, just for the tourists sake :-)
Like the earlier post said, tel$tra would be spitting chips about this, maybe macas is changing isp's ?? (fingers crossed)
I have not visited the golden arches for a while, I might stop of for a coffee now....

AJP001 writes...

We travelled through Asia last year and free wireless hotspots were all over the place.

How much range does wifi have in this case ?

I have a couple of Maccas Both within 1.5 K ?
and there is a nice hill with line of sight 1.3 K
just up the road

Edit

http://www.freewifi.com.au/listing_summary_keyword.php?rowOffset=&listing_type=paid&name=&suburb=&postcode=4030

Maccas are changing from pay for to free apparently ?

Maccas have stated on Free wifi site that
they will convert to paid to free.

This is a bonus for Country Towns which are not well served
by the internet.

McDonald's Windsor West (Café/Eatery)
WINDSOR, QLD 4030
"Watch this space over the next few months, as this site will be changing from a Paid Telstra/Bigpond Wireless Hotspot to a McDonald's FREE Wireless Hotspot !!" ...

Fairly straightforward

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=McDonald%27s+Wifi+%3Aau&btnG=Search

google is showing this thread

Dave Lister writes...

I have a couple of Maccas Both within 1.5 K ? and there is a nice hill with line of sight 1.3 K just up the road

Have a read of this article about someone who receives WiFi from a hotel ¼ mile away. The antenna is a variant of the classical woktenna (see also WokFi, USB WiFi). It might give you some inspiration.

edit: spelling

I'll believe it when I see something official.

That being said, if it is true, I would very much welcome the change. Nothing wrong with free stuff (WiFi Hotspots doubly so).

PuffedSlinky writes...

is a little sus... could be a prank?

If you check http://www.freewifi.com.au , the McDonalds listings quote – "Watch this space over the next few months, as this site will be changing from a Paid Telstra/Bigpond Wireless Hotspot to a McDonald's FREE Wireless Hotspot !!" ... It DOES list free wifi locations as well as paid ...

I wish I lived next door to a maccas ;D

watchdogg writes...

It DOES list free wifi locations as well as paid ...

Whilst true, there's no concrete evidence that the listing is correct (no other McDonald's restaurants are even listed from what I can see).

(Just playing the Devil's Advocate here; we'll see on Friday / in 4-6 weeks what happens. :D )

Dave Lister writes...

Maccas have stated on Free wifi site that
they will convert to paid to free.

An entry www.freewifi.com.au does not represent an official statement from Maccas. I think that is Fairly straightforward

EDIT: Clamburger beat me by 3 mins :)

Clamburger writes...

Whilst true, there's no concrete evidence that the listing is correct (no other McDonald's restaurants are even listed from what I can see).

Every postcode I searched for said the same message about them changing soon to free Wifi. Searched about 6 postcodes.

I've just sent McD's Corporate an email asking for confirmation, so we'll see tomorrow.

itsross writes...

I've just sent McD's Corporate an email asking for confirmation

Damn it, constructive post :) Thanks itsross, I guess we will find out for sure soon.

itsross writes...

Every postcode I searched for said the same message about them changing soon to free Wifi. Searched about 6 postcodes.

My bad. I was searching for my local McDonald's but was entering the wrong postcode. (facepalm) I see them now.

(Also, although still not legitimate, unless somebody went to the effort of adding every McDonald's in Australia with correct postcode and phone number, it's plausibly true.)

I work at Maccas and the catch is that your computer somehow gets 30 minutes free usage after you watch a streamed advertisment from makeupyourownmind.com.au and answer a question correctly. You need to do this every 30 minutes... the downside is also that you must pre-register your details so that they can track people in case u r doing illegal stuff like torrents/harassmemt etc...

SSGuru writes...

Having it free is only going to attract the wrong crowds in my opinion.

You mean like.... McDonalds key demographic and largest customer group with the most disposable income for junk food... I'm sure they will HATE that happening ;)

It's bad enough seeing teeny boppers sitting around Maccas thumbing their phones let around have Rich Teeny Boppers hanging around on laptops!

LOL.... they probably think the same about "old geezers" hanging about sipping coffee and eating bran muffins and sneering at them being kids....

Mikag writes...

watch a streamed advertisment from makeupyourownmind.com.au a

I'm so glad the iPhone has no flash to stream video.

Maccas can get stuffed if that's true. Fortunately, pissing their customers off isn't something McD's usually does, so I doubt this is true.

"Buy a cup of coffee or get out!"

A 2 minute video for 30 mins of FREE internet. Who would complain about that?

bombers4ever writes...

A 2 minute video for 30 mins of FREE internet. Who would complain about that?

I wouldn't complain. I just wouldn't use that service.

Some of the sample questions we got are easy...

ie.
1) How many delicious flavours of sunday toppings do we serve?
2) In 25-50 words, which Mc Donalds menu item do you like best and why?

Mikag writes...

2) In 25-50 words, which Mc Donalds menu item do you like best and why?

Yeah this won't make people turn off their wireless instantly at all.

Okay, so I went in today and managed to find those pamphlets.

They actually say on the back "Freewifi.com.au".

But theyre still shrinkwrapped, so i didn't see the inside of them.

And on the "Freewifi.com.au" site, it says it's getting remodeled, so maybe mcdonald's bought them out...

Which state are you guys in – this seems to be happening now in NSW. Thornleigh and Castle Hill are live now. No special code, no coupon, just accept some terms & conditions and your on the net.

Just got an email back from McDonald's.

from Customer Service <mcf33dback@au.mcd.com>
date 22 October 2008 08:29
subject McDonald's Response: Reference No.: 0003236800

Dear Ross,

Thank you for your email. McDonalds Australia is introducing free Wifi over the upcoming months to majority of its restaurants.

Regards
Jacqui
McDonald's Customer Servicece

It's definitely official, 12 stores in Sydney will be swapped over to Free Wifi by COB today with another 8 by COB Friday. I am updating the www.freewifi.com.au homepage this afternoon with a banner linking to a complete list of the live Free hotspots. Each Friday arvo the list will be updated with the latest stores to go live. By the end of March 09 there will be around 710 stores offering Free Wireless Internet.

Straight off the press:

McDonald’s Australia today announced its plans to roll out free wireless high speed broadband internet access to 720 restaurants, making it the biggest provider of free WiFi in Australia.
McDonald’s Australia has partnered with Telstra, the country’s leading telecommunications carrier to offer the free service over Telstra’s Next IP™ network. The staged roll out is expected to be completed by March 2009.

Cookster writes...

Straight off the press:

Care to share the link?

The way I look at it these days, is now you don't really need it you can have it for free.

The service was always over priced and therefore hardly ever used. By current pricing it was completely rediculous and so many people now have at least one HSPA service in the house. Optus has increased there coverage, so people are far less likely to even use the service in the holidays.

Their old/current authentication system didn't work on many handheld devices.

Really the only ones that will lose out of this sort of a deal are local internet cafes and Telstra's Next G service (because they have priced their low volume data plans too high).

Cookster

I have googled and had a look at the Maccas Website
for a press release.

None Found

Edit

Spoke with Maccas Windsor

ETA for Wifi is 3 Nov at Windsor
Kangaroo Point and Newmarket are apparently
Wifi Free as of now

2rd Edit

Phone call to Newmarket
Newmarket is handing out brochures and states that
WiFi is available now

3rd Edit

Phone call to Kangaroo Point
Shift Supervisor does not know
Store Manager on Holidays
Call back tomorrow afternoon ?

itsross writes...

Just got an email back from McDonald's.

Wow that's a quick reply 36 hours... Telstra couldn't reply that quick and people have said we could never justify comparing the two business. So Maccas can even do emails quicker than Telstra WOW! Thats service.

Why don't you ask Mc Donalds to provide you with your telephone service... let's see how long before you get connected....

2wired writes...

Thornleigh

Can confirm its now free, just used it.

this is great news. however, is there a time limit on mcdonalds wifi use. Because i live across the road from mcdonalds; i can access their wifi at the moment at 5mbit, but have to pay for it now. when it becomes free, will i be able to use it 24/7 without restriction, or is there a time limit or a download limit? thanks

wlu writes...

will i be able to use it 24/7 without restriction, or is there a time limit or a download limit? thanks

have a read through the thread – /forum-replies.cfm?t=1073105&p=2#r30

wlu writes...

i can access their wifi at the moment at 5mbit

Are you sure? When ever I check it, it was limited to 512Kbps, which I thought was shocking considering the price.

wlu – there is no time limit at the moment but there appears to be a download limit of 50Mb. Not too bad if you assume maccas are providing this as a value add internet browsing, email etc access whilst you are grabbing a coffee at mccafe.

2wired writes...

a download limit of 50Mb. Not too bad if you assume maccas are providing this as a value add internet browsing, email etc access whilst you are grabbing a coffee at mccafe.

its also good for about 10 songs or so , depending on song size.

doesn anyone know if they are gonna block websites or p2p applications?

sexy_shazam writes...

doesn anyone know if they are gonna block websites

Yep pretty sure Hungry Jacks,Pizza Hut, Red Rooster,Heney Penny,Burger King, Shonys, Po Folks etc will all be blocked.

Hi all...

Does anyone know when free wifi will come to QLD, in particular Wide Bay? freewifi.com.au just has the same generic msg from Maccas.

I heard rumours of the Corio maccas having free wifi but haven't been there to test it yet. Will get a friend with a big antenna on his roof to point it towards the hotspot and check it out.

Also I definitely seen a big red sign on the Geelong KFC window saying they have free wifi there.

Yes, with this – I'll actually being to use the servce for once...
This will actually be pretty cool, being able to grab food and perhaps browse some ebay auctions etc..

Dave Lister writes...

ETA for Wifi is 3 Nov at Windsor

Kangaroo Point and Newmarket are apparently

Wifi Free as of now

That makes sense also because McD's head office is at Newmarket. yay free wifi!

Maccas Rocklea

No signage about WiFi

Who will be next HJ's, Coffee Club ?

always on mute writes...

Wow that's a quick reply 36 hours...

11 hours actually, they wrote back at 8am this morning.

edit: I hope we get to vote for McDonald's for ISP of the year in the broadband choice survey next year hehe

Space Goat writes...

I definitely seen a big red sign on the Geelong KFC window saying they have free wifi there.

Thanks.

Do you think it would be too much to ask for drive thru wifi, so that we could check our emails and WP??

He he :-P

Space Goat writes...

Also I definitely seen a big red sign on the Geelong KFC window saying they have free wifi there.

Using any kind of technology in a KFC store just seems so wrong. I don't want chicken grease all over my iPhone! :)

Not that McDonald's is any less greasy, but at least there you can stick to a cup of coffee.

itsross writes...

Using any kind of technology in a KFC store just seems so wrong. I don't want chicken grease all over my iPhone! :)

lol...just use it in the car after you eat...and you've had a chance to use the moist towelette with the fragrance before handling any of that precious tech.

my iPhone always works better with a bit of grease

There is a hotel chain in the USA, that actively encourages Maccas, Pizza, KFC to build adjacent to them so that there is food available.

Now will the land around a Maccas, become prime real estate for a unit block, balconies facing Maccas ?

All jokes aside for place like Dalby a definite bonus

question:
Is the free wifi coming to ALL the branches of McD's, or only the stand alone branches and not the ones in the shopping center food courts?

Jenifur Charne

JeniSkunk writes...

Is the free wifi coming to ALL the branches of McD's, or only the stand alone branches and not the ones in the shopping center food courts?

I didn't think many of the shopping centre ones offered wifi in the first place? Could get very costly if they enabled it in a food court.

JeniSkunk writes...

Is the free wifi coming to ALL the branches of McD's, or only the stand alone branches and not the ones in the shopping center food courts?

I assume what they meant by "most" stores is that they won't be giving it away at food court stores, although if I type the postcode of a local McD's into freewifi.com.au it does say my food court store is converting to free wifi.

Does anyone know if food court stores currently sell telstra wifi?

itsross writes...

Does anyone know if food court stores currently sell telstra wifi?

My food court (Eastland, VIC) has telstra wifi

Do you think that they will let us order our food online, and have it brought to our table?

Reason I was asking about the shopping centre food court branches is that some, such as Toombul, were built with seating and tables inside the branch, whilst other food court branches, such as Myers Centre in Brisbane CBD, are nothing more than a sales counter front to a McD's kitchen with no seating and tables in the branch.

Jenifur Charne

systemsmac writes...

I think our biggest problem is we don't complain, we seem to just accept the status quo. We should demand free net access at all public venues, just for the tourists sake :-)

Unlike other countries offering free wifi all over the place bandwidth in Australia is obscenely expensive. This is in part due to the big telcos (most notably Telstra) not needing to compete but also because the country is in the middle of nowhere and international capacity costs a fortune to bring up to retailable state.

Stu

So there's going to be a download limit? Damn, there goes my plan of going there, leeching their internet for a couple of hours to download some stuff then leaving.

Dave Lister writes...

There is a hotel chain in the USA, that actively encourages Maccas, Pizza, KFC to build adjacent to them so that there is food available.

Sounds a bit like Formule 1. These generally tend to be located near a number of fast food outlets and don’t have any on-site restaurant facilities.

On a related note, I see that Hungry Jacks in Rundle St, Adelaide has a free Internode wireless hot spot. I should probably post this in the Internode forum, but how good would it be if Internode rolled this out to all Hungry Jacks outlets …

Mikag writes...

Why don't you ask Mc Donalds to provide you with your telephone service...

voip ova free wifi :D

itsross writes...

Does anyone know if food court stores currently sell telstra wifi?

I am hoping the Macca's at Victoria Gardens in Richmond, Victoria does this, as I am a regular there and use my Next G card there.

Will optu$ do the same at Gloria Jeans?

Macca's are smart using Telstra, because it works.

I would not have a problem if I got an hour free with purchase.

PuffedSlinky writes...

An entry www.freewifi.com.au does not represent an official statement from Maccas.

Looks like I should have kept my mouth closed :)

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24535822-8362,00.html

McDonald's … free wireless internet … with Telstra.

… free wi-fi in 720 cafes Australia by March 09 … from late December onwards.

I trust this answers a number of questions and resolves some previous
commentary on the matter …

Apparently live at a few cafes now …

That's pretty handy for when u r traveling and u take a pitstop= check ur emails! Nice

JeniSkunk writes...

Reason I was asking about the shopping centre food court branches is that some, such as Toombul, were built with seating and tables inside the branch, whilst other food court branches, such as Myers Centre in Brisbane CBD, are nothing more than a sales counter front to a McD's kitchen with no seating and tables in the branch.

Most of the food court McDonalds already provide wireless internet with the SSID "Telstra" – the existing pay service. I suppose we'll see these swap over to the free service.

Wonder how the advertising goes on PDAs and Iphones ?

David.S writes...

Wonder how the advertising goes on PDAs and Iphones ?

wonder if you can block it with adblock...

Guys, there is NO advertising added in by McDonalds.

itsross writes...

Guys, there is NO advertising added in by McDonalds.

Dave Lister writes...

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24535822-8362,00.html

pretty reputable source of media, statement "McDonald's has announced", not saying that it has not officially been anounced, no mention from Telstra either, but it definately fits inline with the general trend of maccas overseas, so at the moment i don't see a reason why it would not go ahead.

WarrickJ writes...

not saying that it has not officially been anounced

It's already up and working and confirmed in about a dozen stores in Sydney, and a dozen more tomorrow. No ads..free WiFi.

itsross writes...

It's already up and working and confirmed in about a dozen stores in Sydney, and a dozen more tomorrow. No ads..free WiFi.

Sorry re-read the post, misunderstood your post, so what you are meaning that Macca's arn't adding advertising as a clause to access the wifi, gotcha, sorry

WarrickJ writes...

misunderstood your post,

haha no worries, it'd be nice if McD's put up some info on their website so we all had correct info about this rollout.

itsross writes...

confirmed in about a dozen stores in Sydney, and a dozen more tomorrow

Which ones ???

VoIP.ed (mr.wireless) writes...

Which ones ???

http://www.freewifi.com.au/listing_mcdonalds_summary.php

I've had a few stores confirmed by friends on twitter too.

I take it there is a daily download limit based on MAC address?

Mick writes...

I take it there is a daily download limit based on MAC address?

Yes, 50MB. Reasonable enough amount for a few emails and even a few YouTube videos.

I suppose there is no timetable for a rollout

Timetable – to finish Mar 09

Thanks for the early info guys who were doubted. I will happily eat my hat.

Mick writes...

I take it there is a daily download limit based on MAC address?

I can see it now. People changing their Mac address in their adaptor properties every so often and abusing it... :)

Desperate ones at that..

50MB is more than reasonable for standard surfing, checking of email etc.

Great idea when I'm on the road April next year. Between Macca's and Optus Wireless I should be covered.

Went to Maccas Newmarket 4051

NO SIGN OF

Any brochures
Any web surfing
Counter Staff Awareness of Free Wifi

However

Staff were polite and overworked in the AM rush.
NO cheese on the Muffin – They got that right !

guys, I stumbled across this website and seems that they have done their home work.
www.wirelesslans.com.au
they have put together a pretty handy FAQ that answers all the stuff we have been talking about and a list of live sites. some rough dates for the state rollouts but nothing concrete.

20 sites in a week by the look of it …

200 sites by Xmas ?

Ed

http://tiny.cc/ATF57

Maccas at Stafford …

2.4 k – Line of sight along a creek sort of – what are my chances ?

Dave Lister writes...

Maccas at Stafford …

2.4 k – Line of sight along a creek sort of – what are my chances ?

If you can see the Golden Arches then it couldn't hurt to grab a 24 dBi and point it at them. See if you can borrow one before you lash you and purchase (if you really think it's worth it :))

edit: Anybody know how often you get 50 mb? If you went there everyday, would you have a fresh 50 mb?

Relevant answers in the FAQ:

Is Free WiFi coming to my local McDonald’s store?

The official rollout is schedule to begin the week starting the 3rd November give or take some horse race on the Tuesday. The entire 700+ participating stores are planned to be converted by March 09. The following rough overview of when states are coming online has been published:
• NSW/ACT Mid October Late November
• VIC/TAS Late November Late December
• QLD/NT Late December Late January
• SA/WA Late January Late February

Is the Free WiFi coming to ALL the McDonald’s stores or only the stand alone restaurants and not the ones in the shopping center food courts?

The Free WiFi service will be available in both stand alone and food court based McDonald’s where the current Telstra “pay for use” wireless service is deployed. That is locations where the Telstra BigPond wireless service that is broadcast with a network name (SSID) of “Telstra” will be converted to the Free WiFi service. There are some food courts where the shopping centre management wouldn’t permit the installation of the Telstra service due to their own wireless plans and these will most likely still be excluded. So if your local McDonald’s is one of these food courts then its time to go and hassles centre management.

Will McDonald’s be adding annoying advertising to the WiFi offering?

The Free WiFI is free of any forced advertising at the moment. You don’t need to watch any videos to get access, just agree to some Terms and Conditions and you are on the net. If you are interested in what is in their Terms and Conditions, check out the copy of them here.

Clamburger writes...

Relevant answers in the FAQ:

Thanks for the info, Clamburger.

Overall the McD's wifi looks like it should be good to use.
That is until you read clause 5 in the T&C doc.

5. The McDonald’s Australia FREE WiFi Hotpots are intended to be used in a "community-minded" manner. In order to provide a "fair" service for everyone, McDonald’s Australia reserves the right to:

Bar access to the Free Wi Fi Service to anyone who is deemed to be in breach of the terms, or is behaving in an unsociable manner, or for any other reason.

Block access to any network protocols that are deemed inappropriate or may contravene McDonald’s FREE WiFi terms of use. Such network protocols include but are not limited to those used by file sharing applications such as Limewire, eDonkey, Napster or any Bit-Torrent type of client or Peer to Peer applications.

Apply any such traffic shaping as is deemed necessary to provide the McDonald’s Australia FREE WiFi access in a fair and stable manner to all it’s customers.

Whilst I'm no Lawyer, to me 5 reads as if McD's have carte blanche to bar access to your use of their wifi for whatever reason staff members on duty at the time at the branch might conceive of.
Secondly there is nowhere in the McD's T&C document where they define what they mean by 'traffic shaping'.

The reasoning for clause 5 having the mention of blocking p2p is made clear in Clause 6.

6. Customers of the McDonald’s Australia FREE WiFi access agree to keep their activities legal and in good taste. Customers are forbidden to use the McDonald’s Australia Free WiFi Hotspots for the transfer of copyrighted or offensive materials, or any other such articles.

Also, there's no mention in the T&C doc that uploads and downloads count towards a user's 50Mb session limit, much less that there IS a session limit or what the session limit is. The session limit and the ways it's counted are only seen in the FREE WiFi FAQ.

Overall good, but there's some polishing and detail work to be done.

Jenifur Charne

JeniSkunk writes...

Whilst I'm no Lawyer, to me 5 reads as if McD's have carte blanche to bar access to your use of their wifi for whatever reason staff members on duty at the time at the branch might conceive of.

Yeah.

Let's think practically.

Apart from switching off the wireless router (and thereby barring everyone in the vicinity from using WiFi), how would McDonalds restaurant 'branch' staff (read busy/stressed 16 – 20 year olds, manager 23 years old) go about barring a customer from using the store WiFi?

I don't think any of them would have a clue about identifying the offending MAC address, let alone barring it. Serving hamburgers is at the front of their minds.

cable99 writes...

Apart from switching off the wireless router (and thereby barring everyone in the vicinity from using WiFi), how would McDonalds restaurant 'branch' staff (read busy/stressed 16 – 20 year olds, manager 23 years old) go about barring a customer from using the store WiFi?

There is no reason for staff to get involved. It could all be done remotely without staff input.

I'm happy about this, my folks can't get and don't want ADSL (Tasmania...) so I'm forced to rely on unsecured networks and my crappy Vodafone GPRS connection, the Maccas up the road will make it really easy to check emails and the like.

Plus, I've got the excuse of a 4 yr old niece and a 16mth old nephew that I can leave in the play area until they drop!

JeniSkunk writes...

Overall good, but there's some polishing and detail work to be done.

No, there isn't. It's a FREE service. You are entited to NOTHING. They don't owe you any explanation.

JeniSkunk writes...

Overall good, but there's some polishing and detail work to be done.

I think they have the detail right with no "polishing" needed.

Clause 5 covers them well:

5. The McDonald’s Australia FREE WiFi Hotpots are intended to be used in a "community-minded" manner. In order to provide a "fair" service for everyone, McDonald’s Australia reserves the right to:

Bar access to the Free Wi Fi Service to anyone who is deemed to be in breach of the terms, or is behaving in an unsociable manner, or for any other reason.

This should allow them to control those who would try to extend their use of this service beyond its intended purpose.

I would expect that a high upload/download ratio would be amongst the discouraged activities – as would repeated acceptance of the terms and conditions to extend the usage time.

cyberknutt writes...

This should allow them to control those who would try to extend their use of this service beyond its intended purpose.

Well you only have 50mb... I don't think you could get up to too much damage in that time.

This free wifi news is excellent! I think I need to start getting more 40c soft serve cones :)

This will certainly start the ball rolling with more stores giving away WiFi.

ultimateACE writes...

I think I need to start getting more 40c soft serve cones :)

When did you last buy one – they are now 50c.

cyberknutt writes...

When did you last buy one – they are now 50c.

Still 30c where I'm from. They used to be 50c long ago.

cyberknutt writes...

I think they have the detail right with no "polishing" needed.
Clause 5 covers them well:

Cyberknutt, Thanks for highlighting that part of the first sentence of clause 5.
I'd missed the detail that there is no definition in the T&C or associated documents as to what McD's mean by the term "community-minded" manner. Also, in the second sentence of clause 5, it mentions the term a "fair" service for everyone, and again there is no definition as to what the term means within the T&C and associated documents.

The fact that they use undefined terms in a public document that is binding on the user, is something that does need to be fixed.
That in the same clause as the undefined terms, McD's give themselves unlimited latitude in being able to deny users access to the service, is something I cannot and will not accept.

I am not whinging merely for the sake of whinging. As a member on the policies sub-committee of a community housing group, when we develop policies for the company, any potentially unclear terms and/or phrases in the policies have accurate descriptions; definitions; and case examples applied to them. I am applying this same standard of requirement for detail to be provided, to the T&C and associated documents for McD's wifi.

Jenifur Charne

JeniSkunk writes...

The fact that they use undefined terms in a public document that is binding on the user, is something that does need to be fixed.

They are providing a free service to the community and no-one is forced to use it. They are therefore free to determine the terms of that use.

Given the propensity of internet users to extract the last drop out of any service and use various interpretations of the wording of the Terms and Conditions to justify their use beyond the intended purpose of the service, you will find that the wording has been very carefully chosen to give them full control over their service.

That in the same clause as the undefined terms, McD's give themselves unlimited latitude in being able to deny users access to the service, is something I cannot and will not accept.

That is why you are given the opportunity to not use the service.

; and case examples applied to them

It is simply not possible to give examples of all the ways that system may be misused or abused.

They provide a free service – they have control – like it or not.

JeniSkunk writes...

Jenifur Charne

Basically don't leech off their network all day everyday, and don't go watching porno or an Iraqi beheading and you'll be fine!

McD's haven't actually mentioned anything about a 50mb download have they?

If one user is affecting their network to the detriment of other users then that users need to go.

The shorter the document the less wriggle room for
anyone to find a way of exploiting the rules.

The use of broad terms and motherhood phrases
like community whatever Maccas has kept their
options open to take action where needed

It is free and guests who are privilidged to use
their internet need to be mindfull of what is
an old fashioned term manners

JeniSkunk writes...

I am not whinging merely for the sake of whinging.

What is it about "free" that you are having so much difficulty with?

JeniSkunk writes...

That in the same clause as the undefined terms, McD's give themselves unlimited latitude in being able to deny users access to the service, is something I cannot and will not accept.

They probably even have a button for you to click when you try to login so that you can formally refuse to accept their Terms and Conditions.

Probably the same idea that WP uses, small amount of code
in your machine, sounds about right …

is something I cannot and will not accept.

OK

Having done the community stuff a bit myself, while there are 99.8%
of people who are OK, there is the odd strange person who has
delusions of rights and a void of responsibility …

There is also the hot button issues that arise from time to time.
Unpredictable, unforeseen et al. Maccas is ensuring they do not
have to rewrite the rule book every time society decides to do
something different.

undefined terms in a public document that is binding on the user, is something that does need to be fixed

Who choses to be a user ? No-one is compelled to buy a laptop even
let alone log in.

Maccas has rules, get over it.

Dave Lister