Norwich pioneers free city wi-fi - Techwatch Support Forums: Digital & Satellite TV, FTA, Cable, Computers, Mobile Phones, Apple and General Tech Forums

Analoguesat · 02-09-06, 10:16 PM

source - BBC News website

Norwich city centre is blanketed with a wi-fi hotspot
Norwich is pioneering a free wi-fi project which covers three sectors of the UK city and its centre.

The £1.1m, 18-month pilot has been live for three weeks and is backed by the East of England Development Agency.

Paul Adams, from Norfolk county council said: "It allows people to see the benefit of wireless technology."

The city centre, county hall and educational establishments such as the university all have wi-fi access.

Mr Adams, director of corporate resources and cultural services, said: "The original idea was to use it as a demonstration project - to wireless-enable a significant part of the city so we could begin to see what the benefits were in terms of economic development, benefit for the public and public services workers."

More than 200 antennas are positioned around the city, mainly on lampposts, creating blanket wi-fi coverage.

The city is one giant hotspot, utilising a mesh network which means users can get seamless internet access as they wander the streets.

Kurt Frary, who managed the project at the local authority said: "As a mesh network, if one of the lamppost aerials were to fail, the whole system will compensate to find a way through.

Full report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5297884.stm

BGonaSTICK · 03-09-06, 01:30 AM

About time! 8)

Some Southern rail services also have free WiFi at the moment too

http://www.southernrailway.com/wifi_access.php

jontydog · 06-09-06, 12:49 PM

All towns and cities should have that sort of thing in this day and age.

BGonaSTICK · 06-09-06, 01:04 PM

For what it costs to provide, I can't believe that any town/city council, or indeed any commercial enterprise that wants to attract customers would consider charging customers to use public hotspots.

FFS, it's the difference between impressing the hell out of people, or pi$$ing them off with extra bureaucracy!

fergycool · 10-09-06, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGonaSTICK

For what it costs to provide, I can't believe that any town/city council, or indeed any commercial enterprise that wants to attract customers would consider charging customers to use public hotspots.

Hear hear....! Free wifi should be the norm for every city centre nowadays!

Cheers
Ferg

02-09-06, 10:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
Analoguesat manic midlander retired mod Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Scottish Borders Posts: 11,668 Thanks: 21 Thanked 1,339 Times in 990 Posts	Norwich pioneers free city wi-fi source - BBC News website Norwich city centre is blanketed with a wi-fi hotspot Norwich is pioneering a free wi-fi project which covers three sectors of the UK city and its centre. The £1.1m, 18-month pilot has been live for three weeks and is backed by the East of England Development Agency. Paul Adams, from Norfolk county council said: "It allows people to see the benefit of wireless technology." The city centre, county hall and educational establishments such as the university all have wi-fi access. Mr Adams, director of corporate resources and cultural services, said: "The original idea was to use it as a demonstration project - to wireless-enable a significant part of the city so we could begin to see what the benefits were in terms of economic development, benefit for the public and public services workers." More than 200 antennas are positioned around the city, mainly on lampposts, creating blanket wi-fi coverage. The city is one giant hotspot, utilising a mesh network which means users can get seamless internet access as they wander the streets. Kurt Frary, who managed the project at the local authority said: "As a mesh network, if one of the lamppost aerials were to fail, the whole system will compensate to find a way through. Full report http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5297884.stm __________________ Basic forum rules for both satellite & cable: no keys no patches no offering or asking for card shares Anyone pm'ing me for details of card sharing or anything to do with hacking cable will be banned immediately Analogue forever!!

03-09-06, 01:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
BGonaSTICK Dodgy Geezer Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Brighton Posts: 9,718 Thanks: 3 Thanked 166 Times in 60 Posts	Re: Norwich pioneers free city wi-fi About time! 8) Some Southern rail services also have free WiFi at the moment too http://www.southernrailway.com/wifi_access.php __________________ Dreambox 7000, Skystar2 PCI, Skystar USB, Fibo 90cm on Moteck SG2100, Triax TD110 multi-LNB. Sky + ART cards. 45.0°E - 58.0°W

06-09-06, 12:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
jontydog Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,089 Thanks: 0 Thanked 8 Times in 8 Posts	Re: Norwich pioneers free city wi-fi All towns and cities should have that sort of thing in this day and age. __________________ TM 1000D Super. SS2 PCI. Echosmart Dsb 791 1M Dish. Edon 2120 Positioner. 80cm Mesh Dish Motorised. 28E to 30W

06-09-06, 01:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
BGonaSTICK Dodgy Geezer Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Brighton Posts: 9,718 Thanks: 3 Thanked 166 Times in 60 Posts	Re: Norwich pioneers free city wi-fi For what it costs to provide, I can't believe that any town/city council, or indeed any commercial enterprise that wants to attract customers would consider charging customers to use public hotspots. FFS, it's the difference between impressing the hell out of people, or pi$$ing them off with extra bureaucracy! __________________ Dreambox 7000, Skystar2 PCI, Skystar USB, Fibo 90cm on Moteck SG2100, Triax TD110 multi-LNB. Sky + ART cards. 45.0°E - 58.0°W