November 28th, 2006
Surprise! Pittsburgh's outdoor muni WiFi penetrates buildings
An unanticipated development is going on with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's new outdoor Wi-Fi service.
Furnished via US Wireless Online, the service is intended for downtown users who are out of doors.
But hey guess what. According to tests performed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the $7.99 a day service seems to be doing just fine indoors as well.
Indoors at locales such as the Wintergarden at PPG Place, parts of the food court at Fifth Avenue Place, Macy's Arcade Bakery Cafe, the lobby of the U.S. Steel Tower, and even the new restaurant Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse on the North Shore.
"The Wi-Fi network in some indoor spots was able to upload the Post-Gazette's Web site in a matter of seconds, comparable to outside locations," writes the P-G's Corilyn Shropshire.
She makes a good point that such robust reception power can add up to extra income for the service during months that not a lot of Pittsburghers would necessarily wish to use the service online.
I also wonder if the service is strong enough to provide an alternative to fixed wireless broadband in nearby offices.
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
As long as their plans for net control are disrupted by competitive forces, it's all good.
