Tim Cavanaugh | November 12, 2004
Mayors all over the country go wild for WiFi.
Help Reason celebrate its next 40 years. Donate Now!
Try Reason's award-winning print edition today! Your first issue is FREE if you are not completely satisfied.
Either Hermosa Beach, CA provides free WiFi to it's residents. My boss seems to love it and he's paying for it. I guess it works for smaller cities than huge metropolises. All I know is I wanna grab a spot right on the other side of the border and free ride. :)
Ah, San Francisco. We can't afford to keep the streets clean,
but we can give telecom service away for free, in competition with
companies we tax up the wazoo if they dare locate here.
One problem I foresee: how long before spammers load up their
software onto laptops, then sit in a public square sending out
millions of spams? How can they be kicked off the system? Will it
get to the point that the entire city net is blacklisted because of
such abuse?
Linking to your own article? Isn't that a breech of protocol
Tim?
At any rate, it is a very good article. I think the most important
point is the detrimental effect government involvement has on
private development.
As a technical matter, 2.4 Ghz electro-magnetic waves made with
WiFi devices, constrained by the modest EIRP allowed by the FCC,
0.1 Watt, will not propogate well in an urban area. This fact can
be verified by direct observation, you don't need a $350,000 study
to figure that out.
The FCC has uncapped the allowable EIRP used in point-to-point WiFi
applications from 0.1 Watt to 1 Watt. That won't help here though.
The SF application has to be mult-point to multi-point, or point to
multi-point with another media connecting the point-to-multipoint
access points.
If SF wants to make their WiFi extravaganza work, they will have to
do so by ignoring the FCC constraints on WiFi power emmission
and/or consort with the corporate Facsist to overcome the technical
difficulties. In so doing, the entire Bay area's WiFi spectra will
be under the control of the illiberal, group-think denizens that
haunt the halls and cubicles of city government buildings.
Site comments/questions:
Media Inquiries and Reprint Permissions:
(310) 367-6109
Editorial & Production Offices:
3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 391-2245