Northfield’s Caribou Coffee in the Westside Plaza recently changed its policy and now offers free wi-fi, joining a dozen other Northfield establishments. They do require a simple email address registration and limit it to one hour. In a pinch, one can extend it by logging in with another email address, but I suppose they discourage that.
Northfield.org’s wi-fi page has the following updated list. I’d add the Archer House lobby and its lower level conference room to the list, though they might argue that they’re not meant for the general public.
- Bittersweet Eatery & Gathering Place
- Contented Cow
- Froggy Bottoms
- Goodbye Blue Monday
- James Gang Coffeehouse & Eatery
- James Gang HideAway
- Just Food Co-op
- Northfield Public Library
- Ole Store
- Rueb ‘N Stein
- Hogan Brothers
- The Key
Are we missing any?
- The libraries or student centers at the colleges?
- Perkins or Applebee’s?
- Any of the fast food places on Hwy 3?
- Any of the restaurants in Dundas?
- Will Sprazzo and Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar and Cafe have free wi-fi then they open?
FYI: Ole Store has been closed since March……………
The Public Library has wireless, or at least it did before I left for school.
Speaking of the Ole Store, does anyone know if there are plans to re-open the restaurant anytime soon?
Katie, yep, the library has wifi. I listed them above. Lahna, I saw Tom Hayes last week and asked him if he was still on track to open it (see my blog post here) and he said things fell thru just a few days ago. No word on who else might be interested.
Okay I’m sorry, but that’s not free WiFi, Griff. You only get one free hour per e-mail address, or you have to buy something and get a voucher. Now of course you would buy something if you were there, but if you say free, you have to mean free.
All those other establishments listed, to my knowledge, have true free WiFi. 1 out of 13 having only pseudo-open isn’t bad though.
Now what we really need is free municipal WiFi.
P.S.: To my knowledge, most of the St. Olaf campus is covered, but you have to have an Olaf user name and password to register your computer with the network. Not sure about Carleton
P.P.S.: ARTECH (which I attend) opened up its WiFi at the start of this school year.