Wi-Fi implementation gathering momentum
The pace of action in developing Wi-Fi capabilities in cities for high-speed intranet and internet access is speeding up. There is a lot of interest in this topic, and many cities are accelerating their plans to implement broadband access not just for the public safety users but for the public at large. It may be that politicians respond more favorably to general community pressure for broadband access and then proceed in ways that end up benefiting the public safety agencies without their having to foot the bill for everything.
In recognition of the interest level, the e-week e-zine has a major collection of stories on Wi-Fi hot spots, including good explanations of the security issues and how to cope with them. This is good reading for anyone getting to Wi-Fi technology.
Writing in Federal Computer Week, Brian Robinson describes the multi-technology solution that combines satellite and Wi-Fi hotspots to distribute data at reasonable prices that Golden Valley, Arizona, is using to provide high speed data communications to its fire stations.
And Medford, Oregon is using mesh technology derived from military applications to create a 1Mbps delivery system to its police department.
In Sonoma County, California, a grass roots community driven consortium is attempting to build an 802.11b community supported wireless network, and using open source approaches to create centralized authentication code to enable shared network services.
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