Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2011 > May > 24 > Entry
Austin airport’s WiFi situation just got a little less sad
Last month, I flew out of the San Antonio airport instead of my usual departure at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and was stunned: they had free WiFi! You didn’t even have to sign up for a day pass or sell your blood or know a guy. It was just there. Free. Plentiful. Delicious.
In Austin, though, it’s always been a pay-your-way thing with WiFi. Typically, I just go without and eat a gigantic pork sandwich at Salt Lick to drown my connectivity sorrows in sweet BBQ sauce.
But good news has arrived. Now you can get a half hour of WiFi at the airport before the financial hammer comes down and you have to pay $4.95 an hour (or $7.95 for the “day,” which usually amounts to a few hours unless some terrible traveling tragedy has befallen you).
What I’m unclear about is whether that’s a half hour per device or a half hour per logged-in account. Couldn’t you just create multiple accounts and ride that free WiFi for several hours? Has anybody tried this? Post in the comments if you’ve already experienced this airport WiFi change yourself.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Austin, Internet
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By Tom
May 26, 2011 2:54 PM | Link to this
They register the MAC address of your device (think social security number for your computer/ipad/etc). That unique identifier allows them to make sure you're only on 30min per day sans buying additional time.
By Sherry
May 24, 2011 8:11 PM | Link to this
I've always thought it was appalling that AUS did not offer free wi-fi! We are supposed to be such a tech-savvy city that it was embarrassing that we didn't have that airport wi-fi! I am embarrassed that they are now offering just the puny 30 minutes!