Over the years, Costco has developed a reputation for being one of those stores that has everything in them. Customers can buy groceries, medication, have an eye test, and in some stores, even lease a car.
Amongst their convenient services, Costco also does eye tests, oil changes, and more. It’s clear to see how much they care about their customers their level of satisfaction.
But, does Costco have Wi-Fi in its stores? For many customers, being able to connect to the internet while shopping is essential.
After some research, we have found the answers to all of the questions that you may have regarding Costco’s Wi-Fi availability in-store, and more.
Table of ContentsShow
Does Costco Provide Wi-Fi In 2023?
As of 2023, Costco does have Wi-Fi services in all of their stores, although they are not for the public to use.
All the Wi-Fi services at Costco are private and protected by passwords, and can only be accessed by the store employees, which they can access with their assigned usernames.
For you to have internet every time you are inside a Costco store, you have to utilize the data plan of your smartphone to access the internet.
To know more about Costco’s internet services and Wi-Fi connection, as well as their extent of availability to the people inside the store, keep on reading.
Does Costco Provide Public Wi-Fi?
No, Costco is not providing Wi-Fi or any type of internet service for the public to use up to this day.
This is primarily because the internet services present in every Costco store are kept private and protected by passwords, and only the employees have the access to Costco’s Wi-Fi password.
While many other stores similar to Costco are offering free Wi-Fi connection for their customers to use freely while shopping, Costco is not allowing its customers to use the store’s wireless network up to this day.
So if you have to use the internet from the store’s premises, you will not be able to use Costco Wi-Fi to surf since they are private and protected by passwords.
What you have to do instead is use the data plans of your smartphone to use the internet.
Do note that in some cases Costco stores won’t have any cellular service, which means that you won’t have access to 4G or 5G inside the store. So, if there’s something you want to find out using the internet – like checking the Costco website, make sure you do it before you go inside the store.
Why Isn’t Costco Offering Public Wi-Fi?
Costco did not exactly disclose up to this day why the store policy has no provision on giving free Wi-Fi access to its members, though some speculations have emerged with regard to the reason.
One speculation is that putting a restriction on the Wi-Fi network will enable Costco to reduce their operational costs, and ensure the quality of the products sold at considerable prices.
In addition to that, without any access to Costco’s free Wi-Fi, customers can focus on shopping and spending money rather than browsing the internet.
Having no public Wi-Fi connection inside Costco stores will also prevent people inside from just loitering in places like food courts and causing queues and additional congestion.
To further prevent queues, Costco has also made it possible for customers to order weddings cakes, and other food over the internet so they don’t need to queue and order in-store.
Conclusion – Does Costco Have Free WiFi?
Yes, Costco does have Wi-Fi in their stores but it’s strictly limited for the use of Costco employees. All visible Wi-Fi networks in Costco are protected by passport and only Costco employees have access to the Costco wifi password.
Thus, if you want to make use of the internet while in-store, you need to use your mobile data. But even then, in some stores that don’t have any coverage, you won’t be able to do that.
So, if there’s something you need to check while at Costco, make sure to do it before you enter the store.
