Micky D's for WiFi

We were on vacation in beautiful upstate New York in late July when it was time to get connected to a fast internet pipe so that my son, an impending Auburn University freshman, could have a chance at getting season tickets for Tigers football. The flood gates on the Auburn website were due to open at 9:00 am central time, 10:00 am our local NY time, so we located a nearby McDonald's restaurant and ordered some breakfast and asked for wireless access. The young lady behind the counter handed us our cinnamon rolls, OJ, and an instruction card and we went to work.

Thirty minutes later we still weren't on line, but we were getting closer after the store supervisor rebooted their system (the extent of her technical expertise, but she was very nice about it) and we realized that we were trying to get in via the local carrier's public portal rather than their McDonald's pathway. By twenty 'til all we had to do was wait. My son pounced on the tickets link as soon as it went live: $95 for 6 home games, not bad. And Auburn is the football team in Alabama with a tested coach in place, Tommy Tuberville. I guess I'll have to learn more about the players, and quick, since the season is about to kickoff in a couple weeks, it looks like with four home games in a row!

So when you need some internet in the middle of nowhere, for tickets or just sports scores, most McDonald's can hook you up, if you don't need much tech support.