Is Public Wi-Fi Heading Out to Pasture?
Tue Aug 7, 2007 5:02PM EDT
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Here's an interesting analysis of the state of public Wi-Fi from Network World Canada. While Wi-Fi in the home, office, and coffee shop has become ubiquitous, plans for rolling Wi-Fi out on a citywide basis have been hit and miss. Just yesterday Forbes ran a story referring to my hometown of San Francisco's attempts to roll out free citywide Wi-Fi as a "fiasco." I am hard-pressed to argue with that assessment.
Meanwhile, Wi-Fi is looking more and more like a niche technology that is really only useful in a smallish set of circumstances. Leave the house, and you're at the mercy of an open hotspot, a paid connection, or a cellular signal. There's also that not-so-little security risk, too.
And while cellular technology has proven to be a lackluster performer, hopes that the next-generation WiMAX service will remedy those flaws have some observers wondering whether it's time to give up on these citywide Wi-Fi networks and focus instead on the future.
The argument isn't a bad one: Wi-Fi was not built to scale to installations of multiple square miles. The limitation of a Wi-Fi signal's range to a few hundred feet was intentional, as Wi-Fi has always been meant as a local area technology, a replacement for wired Ethernet connections. Attempts to stretch it to cover an entire town are simply hacks: It can be done (as many a burg has proven), but it's not the most efficient use of resources, since blanketing a city with hotspots requires a ghastly amount of equipment and human technical resources to make sure everything stays up and running.
WiMAX, on the other hand, is plenty fast (in theory), while offering superior range on par with cell phone towers: A handful could blanket a city rather than the hundreds of Wi-Fi hotspots that would be required. It also has the advantage that it could replace your current internet service at home: WiMAX is fast enough that you could pay for the one connection and use it anywhere you go, thus eliminating the extra cost of a cable modem to your house. The disadvantage: As a cellular technology, there would be no easy way to offer a free version of it to all residents.
Of course, WiMAX is still in development. Mobile solutions aren't available yet, and the network hasn't been built-out either. For a real WiMAX rollout we'll likely have to wait until about 2012... but I guess I can wait it out. The way things are going, San Francisco's Wi-Fi network still won't be up and running by then, anyway.
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2 Posted by pln3944 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:14PM EDT Report Abuse
Minneapolis model for emergency Wi-Fi Network was reliable under trying conditions after bridge collapse? JULIO OJEDA-ZAPATA Pioneer Press A consumer-focused wireless computer network blanketing roughly a fourth of Minneapolis morphed into a critical disaster-response tool after last week's Interstate 35W bridge collapse, giving officials and average Internet users a way to communicate and obtain vital information. This is likely to make Minneapolis an example of how citywide Wi-Fi networks can be useful in emergency scenarios - and perhaps mute critics who see city networks as pricey boondoggles. The Minneapolis network, mostly worked reliably under trying conditions, according to those familiar with its inner workings. Here's how the network's use evolved: Within an hour of the collapse, U.S. Internet stopped requiring subscriber names and passwords and opened the wireless network to all. Use rose from about 1,000 users to more than 6,000 in 48 hours of open access. Though it's unclear who used the network or why, the system could have provided a way around clogged cellular networks to reach friends and relatives - via instant messaging or voice-over-Internet calling. U.S. Internet had a bit of difficulty switching the network to free-for-all mode, said Joe Caldwell, president of U.S. Internet's wireless division. The company is formulating crisis procedures for doing this more quickly, he said. Paid access has been reinstated, but U.S. Internet still offers free access to key news, traffic and medical sites. Help it grow. Though the wireless network covers downtown Minneapolis and some of its surroundings, it didn't cover the bridge site at the time of the collapse. U.S. Internet rushed out staff and equipment to remedy this. The wireless access near the bridge "was essential to our ability to respond," Minneapolis chief information officer Lynn Willenbring said. "We're so fortunate the downtown phase was finished. If it had happened in another part of the city, our operational response would have been severely limited." On Tuesday, when a command center near the river was moved, U.S. Internet expanded the Wi-Fi network again. As officials set up command and coordination facilities at Minneapolis City Hall, on the riverbank and on watercraft, they needed ways to easily access or exchange vast amounts of digital data - often in the form of Geographic Information System maps. Without high-speed Internet access, workers likely would have had to print out maps or burn them to discs for distribution using couriers, Willenbring believes. With Wi-Fi, any worker anywhere can access centralized servers via laptop. City, state and federal officials scattered around the area also have a way to communicate and swap information. Give it eyes. Those workers also need to clearly see the disaster site, but few have unobstructed views. U.S. Internet over the weekend installed several webcams, each linked to a Wi-Fi radio for integration.
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1 Posted by matt_archbold2002 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:11PM EDT Report Abuse
I live in Houston and I've read articles about The city of Houston wanting to rollout City wide Wi-Fi in houston and to me it just doesnt seem possible. Houston is a huge city. They said something about doing it in Phases, but that would cost so much that i wonder how reliable and how costly it will be. This WiMAX that you talk about seems like the way cities should be thinking (maybe even planning ahead for). It sounds less expensive, not as complex, and not as difficult to maintain as a Wi-Fi blanket would be. I personally would rather pay 30.00 or whatever for that type of service that is available at the same strength whether i'm on the couch, at work, or at a store.