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The Hiccups of Free Wi-fi for Cities

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hard-enough-to-make-our-office-work dept.

smooth wombat writes "Several cities around the country are considering implementing free wi-fi for its residents. Currenly, St. Cloud, Florida is the only one that can make that claim. However, the 28,000 residents are still experiencing hiccups in the system more than a month after implementation including being able to see receivers but not being able to connect or connecting at different times with weak signals or not being able to connect at all. As a result, many residents are still paying for monthly landline connections. HP, which has been contracted to build the project and provide customer support, says it is working to resolve the issues by adding more access points to improve signal strength in isolated parts of the city. Despite these issues, HP says that there were only 842 help-line calls out of more than 50,000 user sessions in the first 45 days of service."

16 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. Free WiFi AP wiki by suso · · Score: 4, Informative

    Heh, just last night there was someone on the mediawiki IRC channel asking if his Free WiFi Lan wiki project was a good idea. People from here should go there and give this project a boost. Check it out.

    Ironically, someone asked the guy if his server could take a Slashdotting. From talking to him through email it seems that will will be fine for a comment link.

  2. A large scale project induces hiccups. by Trigun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would be suprised if there weren't hiccups in a rollout this large. Give it six months, and then we'll see. Until then, let's all reserve judgement.

    1. Re:A large scale project induces hiccups. by Trigun · · Score: 5, Informative

      Terribly sorry, I got to the part that said "More than a month after St. Cloud launched what analysts say is the country's first free citywide Wi-Fi network, Lusardi and others in this 28,000-person Orlando suburb are still paying to use their own Internet service providers as dead spots and weak signals keep some residents offline and force engineers to retool the free system." and thought, "Hmm, more than a month, that can't possibly be 24 months."

      After reading the article, I found out that it "... launched the network on a trial basis in May 2004 in a new division of town to help give businesses an incentive to relocate. After further exploring the benefits, officials decided to expand it citywide." Which means that it worked well in the trial, and they had issues as they expanded and added users.

      Now let's dissect all of that. May 2004, St. Cloud launches test bed. Works. Continue to run testbed.
      Sometime between 01/01/06 and 03/24/06, after having to go through committees, raise funding, and implementation of the full scale wi-fi network, they release it to the public. People complain (Which is their nature, and some of them their sole function) that they can't get wireless coverage, or that the access points are maxxed out. When they do connect, it's slow. Some lady at the beach, which has really decent line of sight when compared to, say an apartment building, can use it.

      So, after RTFA, I think that I'm still right. But I could be wrong about that. It's been known to happen,

  3. Free as in... by paulthomas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Free as in Beer? More like...

    Free as in at least two million dollars in capital outlay and $400k annually (and they're probably underestimating). Free as in: people using it don't necessarily pay for it, and people paying for it don't necessarily use it.

    That's not a definition of free I can accept.

    1. Re:Free as in... by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just like Canadian health care is "free".

    2. Re:Free as in... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's what "public spending" is about. I have no kids, so get the hell away with child support! I don't own a car, so why bother spending money on more highways? Or I have a car, why the hell does the state still fund those bus lines that only clog the road ahead of me? Public broadcasting, what for, I got cable and their program sucks anyway! To carry it to extremes, I'm no woman, so why the hell should I pay for women's houses?

      Public services are by definition something everyone pays for and not everyone uses. That's not necessarily "unjust" or bad. It's provided to you. You're free to use it. Or not. It's there.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Free as in... by 955301 · · Score: 3, Insightful


      Socialism - we've been on the road to socialism. And a lot of it has been good. But comparing the fire department with wireless access is a bit much, don't you think?

      --
      You are checking your backups, aren't you?
    4. Re:Free as in... by planetmn · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except for one thing - the revenue the city generates isn't *directly* tied to the performance of the network. So the desire to operate the network smoothly isn't driven by a swift kick to the government coffers like it is for a company.

      You mean like how if Comcast service sucks, I can go to Verizon, and if Verizon sucks I can go to Comcast? It's not like the guys in the ISP arena have a true economic desire to operate a network smoothly anyway.

      -dave

      --
      /., where "Apple and Google provide Iran with nukes" will be refuted with "But Microsoft is a convicted monopolist"
    5. Re:Free as in... by sfjoe · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ...everyone will pay even higher taxes for something they don't use

      Yeah, like I pay for a fire department I've never used and roads I've never driven on. The self-centered, greedy right-wing can't fathom the concept of doing something that benefits everyone. If there is nothing in it for them personally, they scream about having to pay for it.

      Sound familiar?

      Sure does. The same old greed-centered crap the right keeps pumping out. Funny how the right wing thinks that everything would be fine if we just handed over everything to the corporations.

      --
      It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
  4. Sunnyvale, CA has it too by callipygian-showsyst · · Score: 3, Informative
    Currenly, St. Cloud, Florida is the only one that can make that claim

    BZZZZZZZT Thanks for playing!

    Sunnyvale, CA (a city of 115,000 people) has free city-wide WiFi, too.

    --
    Best Buy can have you arrested
  5. Let's keep autonomy by Odiumjunkie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "As a result, many residents are still paying for monthly landline connections."

    Is this surprising, or some kind of a sign of failure? I think that free city-wide Wi-Fi is a nice idea, but I still wouldn't surrender the autonomy, privacy, control and efficiency of my own pipe.
    b

  6. Wrong, not if it is done correctly by brunes69 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    In my city not only is the Wi-Fi free, but it actually turns a profit for the city, who resells bandwidth on it's fibre ring that powers it to local companies.

    In essence, the city is acting as an ISP. The ISP offers free bandwidth to residents, and leases surplus bandiwdth to other companies.

    It can also be seen that, even if a city did not turn a profit on it's own network, the increased tax revenue from people migrating to the area because the WiFi is there couldpay for the cost of the network.

    I am not saying that this is the case in this particular city, I am just pointing out that free Wi-Fi can be a win-win situation for all residents if you have smart people in charge of the thing.

  7. Wireless Remedy by digitaldc · · Score: 3, Funny

    Someone said they would get rid of the wifi hiccups, but then I was told, 'Don't hold your breath.'

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
  8. There are a bunch of these by drewzhrodague · · Score: 3, Informative

    There are a bunch of hotspot lists, including wireless anarchy. Hell, I even provide a hotspot list, but we get ours from people wardriving.

    --
    Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
  9. Give 'em some time by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Remember when broadband came? I do.

    An uptime of an hour was rare. An uptime of a day was unheard of. Downtime of a day, on the other hand, was quite common.

    You're complaining after just a month? Don't tell me you already quitted your cable provider, thinking that this works "out of the box".

    Seriously now. Cut 'em some slack and let them iron out the wrinkles. If they don't improve after 6 months, you have something to complain about. But after a month? C'mon, be realistic, this is more or less uncharted water they're trying to wade in.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  10. And the really awesome part by Damek · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The really awesome part of spending in the public interest is that there are usually residual benefits even for those people who don't directly use the services.

    Public roads? Lubricates the commerce (at the very least), which makes the economy as a whole better for you to participate in.

    Social security? Keeps the unfortunate & market-abused from being too much of a drag on society and potentially a destabilizing force; IOW, it keeps society secure for you, too.

    Subsidized communications (incl. wifi services)? Facilitates democracy, free flow of information, not to mention commerce like roads & public transport also do. Which makes the economy and your democracy all the better, even if you choose other avenues to participate in commerce & government.