My favorite free Wi-Fi spot puts me on the clock
Now I’ve done it. Well, me and about a million of my closest friends who like to work on their laptops at Panera Bread restaurants across the nation.
When I sat down at my favorite Panera in Edmond today to log on to their free Wi-Fi service I was greeted with an advisory in bright red letters. Wi-Fi users will be limited to 30-minute sessions during “prime time” hours of 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. I’ve blown it and my friends have blown it.
For the past four years, whenever I’ve needed to get away from the office to transcribe a long interview or work on a story without editor interruption, Panera has been my place of choice. Sometimes that means I’m in the store and logged on for two or three hours at a time. I alway at least buy a cup of coffee, and most of the time I buy lunch.
I thought something was up because I was working at the Panera out by Mercy Hospital a couple of weeks ago and lost my connection. When I tried to log back on I got a message that I had “exceeded” my time limit. And I didn’t even know I had one!
I’ve got to hurry to get this posted. My 30 minutes is almost up.
Jim Stafford
Business Writer
PS: I had to move to the Edmond Public Library to post this blog post. My 30 minutes ran out at Panera and it cut me off, just like that.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment