Tags: | wireless | mesh network | fort collins |
2007-07-24 12:22
Wireless Mesh Network now Serving Fort Collins
I was recently reading the local newspaper and I came across this article, Downtown is going wireless. It explains how the downtown area of my city, Fort Collins, CO, has recently had a public "mesh" wireless network setup to serve Internet to the downtown community. From the article,
"The pilot project will begin downtown, then stretch into a 2-square-mile area between downtown and the Colorado State University campus by next year, said Tom Vosburg, chief information officer for the city of Fort Collins.
'We agreed to start small and target downtown, which was a high priority for the city and a manageable area,' Vosburg said.
The program also would allow the city to use automated utility meter reading, something that would be useful across the city, Vosburg said."
The article explains that a mesh network is one where you can move around within the network, using different access points along the way, and not have to reconnect with the network. A local ISP Front Range Internet Inc. (FRII) has paid for and installed the hardware and is administering the network. They also say the value of the network is around $100,000.
I love the idea that my city is progressive enough to initiate a program where wireless is available for use publicly. I don't spend much time in the downtown area of Fort Collins, but there are plans to expand the network, and I love to see helpful and forward moving technologies embraced by my local government. I also like the fact that FRII is behind the network, I have first hand knowledge that they are a good company, as they were my dial-up internet provider for seven years, before broadband was available. The only downside to having a private company in charge of everything is they are obviously out to make a profit, and they likely will, because any casual Internet user will be asked after 30 minutes of use to start paying for their connection. I understand the fact that this service wouldn't have been implemented if it wasn't backed by a motive for profit and expanding business, but it would be nice if some basic level of service were available free, with a more advanced or faster option being offered to paying customers. Even with this minor downside, I am still glad to see a local tech company behind the program, rather than a giant like Google, who probably has no business in the wireless network industry to begin with. I am looking forward to seeing how well this program does, and how fast they can expand the network to other parts of the city. If the service did reach my location though, I doubt it would be cheap and reliable enough to replace my home broadband service, but it may come in handy every now and then. As for now, I may have to plan a trip downtown with my laptop, just to check it out.
- Kevin
Kevin (at) Upcsite (dot) Net
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