Chicago planning city wide wifi

[Mr. Anderson]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/02/20/chicago.wireless.ap/index.html

Very cool - and I hope this becomes a growing trend.

D

[mac 2005]

I couldn't agree more, especially since I live in Chicago. ;) I'm currently paying $40/month for broadband access -- a price that seems entirely too high.

What I'm not clear about is why increasing competition hasn't lowered prices. It seems like the providers are all charging the same fee.

[Johnny Rico]

How will the access to this service be restricted? Will it on a per-computer basis, like having to register your MAC address with your college to get online on campus? If so, the projected price would be far higher than home access. The article states, "In Philadelphia, EarthLink Inc. is building a citywide network that will charge a wholesale rate of $9 a month to Internet service providers". This means that providers won't charge less than $15/month for a unit of access. I pay $45/month for cable broadband, but I have six computers on my home network. This comes out to about $7.50 per computer, HALF of the (my) projected per-computer cost for citywide wireless.

[Kingsly]

Umm.. LA next? Pleassse???

[Bubbasteve]

My kind of town Chicago is

[Laser]

There was another article in today's Tribune that says a study indicated that there was already openly available wi-fi in public areas making plans for city-wide access not necessary.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0602210226feb21,1,2890144.story

[Jon'sLightBulbs]

Umm.. LA next? Pleassse???

Yeah, you try covering the entire county! LA is notorious for being large and sprawled out.

[Jon'sLightBulbs]

There was another article in today's Tribune that says a study indicated that there was already openly available wi-fi in public areas making plans for city-wide access not necessary.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0602210226feb21,1,2890144.story

Beeeeeelony. There's definitely no wifi in the loop, and most of downtown. Sorry folks.

[ChrisFromCanada]

Beeeeeelony. There's definitely no wifi in the loop, and most of downtown. Sorry folks.

You might be right, but last time I was in Chicago WiFi was $20 a day through the hotel. I opened my iBook in the room 20+ stories up and saw 3 open unprotected networks!

[Abstract]

My kind of town Chicago is

Thanks Yoda.


I have never just opened up my PB and tried to find an unprotected WiFi network. However, I don't live in a place where WiFi is everywhere. This is something I'd definitely pay for if I had a choice to get it. Even if it was a bit more expensive, it's also more convenient if you want to use it on the road.

[mac 2005]

There seems to be a lot of Wi-Fi here in Chicago, but most of the networks I've come across are protected. Even in my condo, most of the networks -- including my own, of course -- use some sort of encryption or, at least, authentication. (Sorry, don't know the proper terminology. :rolleyes: )

I go to Panera Bread at Congress Parkway and State Street for free Wi-Fi access outside of my condo. Every other place -- coffee shops, for example -- seem to charge a rather hefty fee.

In my building, through RCN, I pay $45/month. Way too much, imho. :mad:

[joepunk]

Heard from my father that my home town might go wireless. Of course he did not know anything else besides that.

[PlaceofDis]

nice. although i do wonder how much they'll charge.

its surely something that i would want and look into. even for my desktop since it has an airport card in it.

i wonder though, if this would lead to the wired services going down in price? you could probably end up getting better speeds through them because i would imagine most people would want the wireless....

[Warbrain]

Search before you post! I made a post about this a while ago! :-p

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=181247

[haiggy]

My city has this in the uptown part of it. I believe it is free at the moment...

[Kingsly]

I wonder if there are any long term physical implications associated with being pelted by wireless internet signals for years. Lawsuits, anyone?
On that note, my street has like 6 unprotected wifi connections, and I can drive down just about any street in my cosy little suburb of LA and check my e-mail, bouncing from one wifi to another.

[Bubbasteve]

Thanks Yoda.


It's actually a classic Frank Sinatra song...:rolleyes:

[shadowmoses]

This is really cool, and I think its the future for internet...hopefully in the coming years we will see this happening in most large cities around the world....

Shadow

[iPegboy]

Oakland County in Michigan is planning a county-wide program. the pilot cities are about to get the free service (i'm in the area going to get it). the free service is going to be 128 kbps, then we'll be able to pay for faster service.

sounds like there will be a sign in page and go from there. but yeah, i can't wait. www.wirelessoakland.org.

the more cities that jump on this thing, the better it's going to be for the average computer user.