DSL.net, QC2 brew Wi-Fi

By Susan Rush
From The September 9, 2002 Edition Of CED Broadband Direct

Coffee and Wi-Fi are becoming fast friends. The latest: Brewed Awakenings has teamed with DSL.net Inc. and QC2 to roll out high-speed wireless Internet services to its customers in Providence, R.I.

Using 802.11b wireless technology, dubbed Wi-Fi, the coffee shop is offering customers a free 30-day trial. To access the trial, users must have a laptop or PDA equipped with a 802.11b card.

Following the free 30-day trial, users that want to connect to the Net while enjoying their morning brew have several rate plan options from which to chose. QC2 offers an unlimited use plan for $30 per month, a daily rate of $6 per day and an hourly rate of $3. The companies plan to extend the hot-spot locations to others areas of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts, and once this happens, users will be allowed to roam among the various locations under the same rate plan.

Last month, Starbucks announced it had surrounded 1,200 of its U.S. cafes with a Wi-Fi-based local area network. T-Mobile International, a Deutsche Telekom wireless subsidiary, is powering the network.