WiFi

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Why Wi-Fi Networks Are Foundering

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

So you didn’t believe me—would you believe Olga? Olga Kharif of Business Week has an online article today that brings to light many of the shortcomings of the Muni WiFi movement. The costs are higher, the network deployment is slower, the defaults are higher, the speeds are slower …
Just look at the quote below, and [...]

SF WiFi coming, no thanks to City, Google, or Earthlink

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

Meraki is stepping in and making free WiFi possible in San Francisco. Bypassing the City, Google, and Earthlink, Meraki sells specially equipped routers to businesses and individuals that allows them to set up public hot-spots, either for free or fee.
With their established product, Meraki is moving the wireless Internet discussion to a different level, cutting [...]

MuniFi, VoIP & Great (UnMet) Expecations

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007

More disappointment for the Muni Wifi proponents today, as Om Malik exposes more of the truth about these deployments. The article covers many of the same aspects I have discussed before, but adds a quote by Andy Abramson about the Tropos mesh networks.
GigaOM MuniFi, VoIP & Great (UnMet) Expecations «
MuniFi, to some extent, has been [...]

New Wi-Fi network proves critical in Minneapolis bridge disaster

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

This story from Computer World shines a positive light on WiFi networks in a time of crisis. The city of Minneapolis was able to utilize the newly started network for moving data files to and from the field as rescue efforts were mounted.
New Wi-Fi network proves critical in Minneapolis bridge disaster
A new Wi-Fi network [...]

SF Muni Wireless: Not Dead But Expiring

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

It seems I’m not the only person that was not convinced the San Francisco Muni Wifi deal with Earthlink and Google would work. The concept didn’t make any business sense, and in the end, it must.
Now Richard Martin, writing on an Information Week blog gives more of the story, including a “demise is imminent” [...]

London Gets Free Wi-Fi Network

Friday, August 3rd, 2007

Free is good, slow is bad. This news from London and online-4-free.com provides free wireless Internet access for the low, low price of watching ads. Even the paid price isn’t terrible at ~$4.50/hour, but the speed of the network will have to improve if they want many takers.
London Gets Free Wi-Fi Network
The free network, [...]

SF Wi-Fi in big trouble

Friday, August 3rd, 2007

Earthlink has looked at the bottom line, and found Muni WiFi lacking. The agreement between San Francisco and Earthlink took another hit when the city refused to sign up for the services as an anchor tenant.
This news could even hurt other programs in progress. We’ll see.
» SF Wi-Fi slows down as EarthLink changes its [...]

Why “NO” for Muni WiFi?

Friday, June 8th, 2007

The news is filled with stories of more and more cities adopting plans for WiFi implementations. The two biggest reasons given for needing to implement this technology are: economic development and bridging the digital divide. Let’s look at each of these must have reasons.
Economic Development
Cities are desperate for economic development, so using this buzz word [...]

Muni WiFi’s Failures & the Digital Divide

Thursday, May 17th, 2007

Business Week published two stories of interest today in the technology sector.
Muni WiFi
The first, Municipal Wi-Fi: A Failure To Communicate—Municipal Wi-Fi networks don’t quite deliver on the promise of wide-ranging access is true to its title. The article goes into greater detail about Earthlink and its decision to pull in the reins on further [...]

Next Gen of Wi-Fi Is Planned for Summer

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

For over a year, I have been advising against buying any Draft N wireless routers because the standard is still not ratified. Now it appears ratification isn’t coming for two more years, but I might have to ease my stance. Dwight Silverman with the Houston Chronicle has tested many different Draft N routers and clients, [...]

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