On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:42:55 -0400, "Dana" <raff242@yahoo.com> wrote in
<eaa82$46d6e582$944e306e$23871@STARBAND.NET>:

>As John Navas posted, a few high profile muni wifi projects are going south.
>The San Fran project with Earthlink has had some bumps in the past, but it
>appears that Earthlink has some internal problems and need to restructure
>their business model anyway.

It's doubtful that anyone could really make it work.

>As for the projects themselves, some were a tad bit over ambitious to begin
>with.
>San Fran's project is a case in point. The city wanted Earthlink to cover
>the city and offer free service to everyone. Well equipment and backhaul
>costs money, hence that was doomed from the start.
>Had the city used this wirless coverage for Police and Fire departments, and
>paid for that service, then the city could have offered free service to the
>people.

Using Wi-Fi for police and fire is a Really Bad Idea(tm)!

>Of course blanket city wide free service is also not a good idea,

No kidding!

>they (the city) could have selected areas of town to cover, like say
>downtown business district, bigger popular parks, the courthouse area, etc.
>What I am trying to say, is that the technology is sound, but it is the
>business model being used in places like San Fran that have resulted in the
>falure of Muni WiFi.

Free and muni are the problems.
The free market works much better.

>Up here in rural alaska Muni Wifi is a great way of bringing high speed
>access to the people. But instead of covering the entire village, we cover
>an area around the government building and library, and allow the citizens
>to use the excess bandwidth, and to use the bandwidth after the government
>closes for the day.

Better to let private business do it.

>With Wimax coming out, that equipment can be used a a WISP type of solution
>to cover large areas with less equipment than what is needed with WIFI.

Not necessarily. Only time will tell.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>