Media Platforms Design TeamIn July, Starbucks announced that all of their stores now offer free Wi-Fi to customers. With more than 11,000 franchises of the coffee megachain in the country, access to an unpaid mobile hotspot just got a lot closer. But how reliable—and fast—are these new hotspots, and how do they compare to other free Wi-Fi offerings? We hit the New York City streets near Popular Mechanics’s editorial offices to test out the Starbucks offer and to compare it to other free Wi-Fi hotspots, such as those offered at McDonald’s, by the city and by mom-and-pop coffee establishments.Overall, expect to get what you pay for—the Wi-Fi at home—our editorial office, at least—is far superior to any coffee shop we tested. All of the Starbucks and McDonald’s we went to had similar specs; and the three nonchain cafés all offered a faster connection. These are by no means scientific numbers—our sample comes from a mere 13 coffee shops in a city where there are thousands of places to get a brew. cellpadding=“0” cellspacing=0">StoreLocation/CrowdDownload Speed (Megabits per second)Upload Speed (Megabits per second)Ping (milliseconds)Time to Download a 5MB MP3 (seconds)Starbucks57th St. & 8th Ave. Smaller store, not very crowded, 2 computers running1.361.40103058th St. & 8th Ave.Smaller store, crowded, several computers running1.391.32912960th St. & BroadwayLarge store, many computers running1.251.00932Times SquareSmallest store, no computers running1.371.42313048th St. & 9th Ave.Smallest store, no computers running1.411.44929 McDonald’s57th St.Light crowd, no computers out1.220.224833Times SquareVery crowded, but no computers out1.250.22443350th St. & 9th Ave.Light crowd, one other computer1.270.22333243rd St. & 8th Ave.Light crowd, one other computer1.160.203535 Home Connection13.222.0784 Tasty Cafe70th St. & Columbus Ave.2.850.693015GiGi Cafe72nd St. & Columbus Ave.2.890.702714At65 CafeLincoln Center4.2211.06414How to Find a Fast, Free Hotspot• Look for laptops: the more computers connected to the same network, the higher the chance your connection speed will slow. • If the connection is bad at first, try moving to a different spot in the store—the wireless signal is not necessarily uniform.• Look beyond the coffee shop—many public parks, libraries and outdoor spaces now offer free Wi-Fi as well.
