Our proposed network will not capture private information and market it or use it in any way. The network will be built on a technologically agnostic platform enabling businesses to sell premium services to unlimited people without interference by proprietary interests.

The network will also be the most sustainable into the future – a technology refresh clause and multiple income streams will keep the network relevant and robust in years to come.

Finally, SF Metro Connect is committed to creating a digital inclusion fund at the San Francisco Foundation and devoting considerable resources to the digital inclusion goals laid out by Mayor Newsom.

Check out our site at: http://www.seakay.org for more information.

I still have to pay for Water, Trash, Phone, Streets, Schools etc. Why should I get free wifi? I would rather get free trash pickup, or lower local taxes. (We liberals love taxes ;-)

If Gavin has so much buy-in, or Mountain view as well, then why are so many of the companies in these areas scared to death that thier investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars might have just been for nought. I have personally spoken to several IT people in Mountain View that really do not want Google’s WIFi to tempt thier users to connect to it instead of the encypted and authenticated network that is provided for them.

I also have spoken to folks in Philly who cannot use thier internal WLAN because the free city WLAN is MUCH LOUDER than thier own (Caps are intended). So now what do they do? The tropos APs that are being considered are 4 Watt transmitters. thats 40x more powerful that a default configured Cisco unit (which comes at 100mw). Additionally, there are only 3 non overlapping channels, so chances are 100% that this network will stomp all over the internal WLANs of Wells Fargo, PG&E, Charles Schwab and whoever else has offices downtown.

Besides, in SF we have around 100 APs per block. We have been unwired for years. Heck, every coffee shop in towm, of which there are legion, has free wifi. So why do we need all this other wifi drowning everything else out?

I keep thinking WAN in terms of cellular coverage. Like Wimax, or even HSDPA. With IMS 2 years out, I suppose anything is possible.

Wifi works for now.

But that’s why we were planning on switching the backhaul to Fiber, and buy DS3 circuits.

When transferring files within our Intranet, we can easily achieve 600KB/sec.

The key in our specific case is that our wifi system is free. The lucky residents who get to use it are happy with it, and the T1 line is what we’ll stick with for now. if the private sector came to us (we’re a small market of only about 10,000 homes), we might be able to switch to a fiber backhaul, and sell a faster service for some monthly fee.

I doubt the city of San Francisco would have even initiated this effort if it didn’t, actually, have the overwhelming support of the vast majority of its constituency. I’m pretty sure S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom would like to get reelected, no?

I know mesh optimizes the network, but I’m curious how you can beat a landline for video, downloads, etc.

Many companies have invested a great deal of time and money into putting up wireless networks in thier offices. This new network may cause a whole host of problems for them. Did Google consult with any of the existing businesses in downtown SF and/or Mountain View as well? Should citizens and businesses have a say in how thier “airspace” is used?

In the end it comes down to how much bandwidth goes through your internet backhaul, THAT’s more likely to be the bottleneck, rather than whichever “wireless technology du jour”.

here in hermosa beach, the 30% lucky few who have had access to our free wifi network enjoy speeds that blow the living crap out of any DSL and Cable package. The WiFi network is wicked fast. But our internet bachaul is a T1 line. if 100% of all residents would use the network, we’d want to do the switch to a fiber optic connection to the Internet wand buy multiple DS3 circuits as needed, which was Keegan’s plan.

the point is, it comes down to your pipe to the Internet.

WiFi, as a technology, is sound, it works, it’s been proven in the field. why wait? to give telcos more chances to cement their monopoly on broadband?

HECK THE FSCK NO.

Wait for mobile Wimax in a year or two and double the speed with half the hassle. I can’t figure this one out.

Leo en el Blog de Om Malik una noticia que puede potenciar el avance de los Muni-WiFi, Google y EarthLink dejaron de competir, en la práctica se han asociado, y le han presentado a San Francisco una oferta en conjunto para construir la red Muni-WiFi ...