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June 18, 2007

internet

The future of municipal Wi-Fi depends on…Philly?!

Posted Jun. 18, ’07, 11:30 AM PT by Kate Marshall
Category | Internet

earthlink_logo.jpgAw, heck—as if Philadelphia needs other people staring over its shoulder, waiting to see if the city’s Wi-Fi experiment with EarthLink is a success beyond successes, or if it fails miserably. But apparently, that is the case, according to Wi-Fi Net News editor, Glenn Fleishman. From Tropos Networks to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Miriam Hill, it seems that Philadelphia’s plan to build a citywide wireless network is under intense scrutiny everywhere.

The success of a recent test covering a 15-square-mile section in Philadelphia has Earthlink officials confident that they could now expand coverage over the city’s 135 square miles, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Although 385 cities in the United States have (or plan to have) Wi-Fi systems, Philadelphia is the largest American city to attempt it so far. Already available in some Philadelphia neighborhoods, Earthlink’s plan is not without price: $6.95 per month for six months to customers who sign up before June 30; $21.95 per month as the standard rate; and $11 per month for low-income customers.

On June 17, Inquirer reporters Miriam Hill and Joseph Galante conducted their own tests of the new network, with mixed results: the system worked well about 20 out of 35 times in their (unscientific) tests. There was no mention if Hill and Galante employed my personal litmus test for how strong a network’s coverage is: can your laptop find a signal as the 4:50 PM train travels from Suburban Station to Market East via underground tunnels? (I don’t think it’s too much to ask that a wireless signal travel underground. And that cars fly. And meals come in pill-form).

[Via Wi-Fi Net News and The Philadelphia Inquirer]


1 Comments

spiderbat said:

There's something that worries me about the idea of a city-wide Wi-Fi system: prices. When they say $22 (let's forget the silly 5 cents) per month per customer, they mean ... per month per computer?
My home LAN has an average of 2.5 computers connected at the same time and I have to pay just for one ADSL line.

June 19, 2007 2:04 AM

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