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Paris, The City Of Wi-Fi?
TheMatt writes "An article at the IHT describes an effort to make Paris one big Wi-Fi hotspot. The project, with partners like RATP and Cisco, if approved, will place two or three antennae outside each of the 372 Metro stations in Paris and link them through an existing fiber network that runs through the subway tunnels.
The current pilot project is centered along the route of Bus No. 38. You can sign up for access to the pilot which is free until June 30."
except, of course, on the days when the network goes on strike. (Just like the RATP.)
sulli
RTFJ.
One plus... they already have a great tower to cover all of Paris.
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I just signed up using my location as Detroit...
*That* should give the Cisco engineers something to work for...
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
I don't know how succesfull this can be... There are 2 potential markets (leaving kids with portables as a marginal marketshare)
- people of paris : why would they subsribe to such service ? They likely have a home in paris, with internet access a lot cheaper, more reliable and more secure.
- visiting bussinessmen : why would they subsrcibe either ? Most hotels have access for a reasonable fee, and are not subscription based.
Additionally, I seriously wouldn't want to sit with my portable open on a bench near a subway entrance in autumn/winter when it gets dark after 19:00. Subway stations are not exactly known for their safety, and walking around with a 2000Euro piece of electronics is asking for trouble.
Additionally, i consider it silly to first sit in the subway for 15 minutes wit haportable and no connection, and then finally getting out in the open where you have to sit again to connect. Wouldn't it be much better to put the base stations INSIDE the trains ?
Call me stupid, but my guess is that they'd better focus on appartment buildings : place a wifi hotspot on top of it, and you've got you whole building connected for low fee and without having to rewire the damd thing.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
-A.M.
Pimpin' all the Karma Hoes!
Doesn't France have some really low limit on encryption? Like 48bit encryption?
Does that apply to wireless as well?
Anyone have more on this?
There was a brief skirmish over the spectrum, but the French military quickly surrendered any reservations.
Just thinking about my work I've done in Paris.. there are many times the stations are simply swamped with people. Laptop wifi is just out of the question. Far too many people and no real area to sit down. Besides, you only have minutes in a subway stop before your train comes. Even with Hibernate, my W2K box takes a while to be ready for use.
That really only leaves handheld devices, like a trusty ole iPaq. But.. with anyone with an iPaq (or laptop for that matter) probably also carries a mobile telephone - probably with bluetooth.
So in the 5 minutes you've got in the subway station, why not just go to street-level, turn on your PDA, and connect via GPRS. The iPaq with bluetooth is fantastic for downloading and running a quick scan on your email.
Plus if you really want to sit down and check your mail or surf, then zip off to a Brasserie for a coffee too.
Gare du nord now has WiFi.. I spend many hours sitting there waiting for my trains. Hey that's a great idea - wire up the trains themselves with WiFi. A Thalys or TGV with WiFi access would rock.
I can see it now: Pringles cans mounted all over the Eiffel Tower...
The hard part is finding enough French people to eat the chips.
Hey, that icon slashdot uses for WiFi stories certainly looks familiar...
Where they really need Wi-Fi is inside the metro tunnels. Surely they could install some leaky coax or seomthing that will make it work for the people actually travelling in the Trains.
I live in Paris (I'm not french, my work sent me here), and I have to travel the full length of Line 1 each day. The trip from Chateau de Vincennes to La Defense each day is 45 minutes to an hour, and if I could make my laptop work for that time, that would cut my workday by nearly the same amount as my travel time. I've been waiting for them to do the same thing with the mobile phones. Right now, the phones work in some tunnels, and not in others.
It's true that all the cables and fiber run through the metro tunnels, that makes it easy to hook up any building with fiber, because nothing is very far from a a Metro station. Both Cable Internet and DSL here in Paris is available everywhere.
-- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
In addition to the networks listed in other posts, this one has been running for about a year and a half now.
If appearance and essence were the same thing, there would be no need for science -- Dr. Michio Kaku
Paris is more wired than any city I know of. The Metro tunnels are packed with fiber, and there is always a Metro station nearby within the city limits. Also, the RER (Regional Trains) are packed with fiber, which extends the reach of Cable companies, and anyone else who wants to be part of the telecom crowd.
Also, just as in the U.S., the long distance rail has loads of fiber running alongside it.
All of this adds up to make france a VERY well connected country. Almost Anything you could possibly need will be found on the internet in France.
-- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.