Technology Lessons From Municipal Wi-Fi 1.0

Thu, 22 May 2008 14:00:00 GMT

In light of the recent announcements by EarthLink to discontinue operations of municipal Wi-Fi networks throughout the U.S., I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my insights from a technical perspective of Municipal Wi-Fi 1.0. I've personally been involved in the design and optimization of more than a dozen active municipal Wi-Fi networks, and experience suggests that a dense, urban- scale municipal Wi-Fi network will likely fail to provide a universally available, technically viable, low-cost alternative to existing broadband services. This isn't to say that Wi-Fi doesn't have its place in the broadband ecosystem. In fact, it has become obvious that Wi-Fi will be a fundamental means of access for some time. With this in mind, it is important to know the limits of the technology.

So, what really were the technical issues with Municipal Wi-Fi 1.0? I've made a list of the six issues that are at the top of my list:

The Local Loop

Technology Lessons From Municipal Wi-Fi 1.0