¬¨‚ĆOregonian reporter Mike Rogoway took to the hustings to get user reaction to the free wireless network that began operation in Portland last week. He reports¬¨‚Ćthat interior performance¬¨‚Ćhas proven difficult¬¨‚Ćfor some users. That’s not unusual and is to be expected inside older¬¨‚Ćbuildings with heavy concrete and metal construction and also¬¨‚Ćat the periphery of the 2.5 square mile the city unwired ¬¨‚ĆOregonian reporter Mike Rogoway took to the hustings to get user reaction to the free wireless network that began operation in Portland last week. He reports¬¨‚Ćthat interior performance¬¨‚Ćhas proven difficult¬¨‚Ćfor some users. That’s not unusual and is to be expected inside older¬¨‚Ćbuildings with heavy concrete and metal construction and also¬¨‚Ćat the periphery of the 2.5 square mile the city unwired as a pilot December 5.¬¨‚Ć
¬¨‚Ć”People need to understand that it is not that different¬¨‚Ćfrom television,” says¬¨‚ĆLogan Kleier, project manager for Unwire Portland, “Having a TV doesn’t always mean you can watch without an antenna. Many people will need a signal booster.”
Rogoway reported¬¨‚Ćhe got¬¨‚Ćgreat coverage after he installed a wireless bridge in his downtown newspaper office.¬¨‚ĆRogoway opted for the Buffalo AirStation that MetroFi recommends, although Buffalo’s tech support told him it was not designed for the job. Glenn Fleishman at WiFi Networking News suggests, instead, a Ruckus or PepLink bridge would be better suited for the job and easier to install.¬¨‚Ƭ¨‚Ć
The Portland network currently covers about two-and-one-half square miles and will be expanded to cover about 95 percent of the city’s 134 square miles by mid-2008.¬¨‚ĆIt is being built by MetroFi, at no cost to the city and will be supported by advertising. MetroFi, headquartered in Mountain View, Ca.,¬¨‚Ćhas partnered with Microsoft to provide local ads and content, such as restaurant reviews, traffic reports, community events, weather, and information on governmental services via an MSN-branded local web page. The deal is Microsoft’s first entry into the muni-Wi-Fi space.
Esme, is this a surprising revelation that most folks need a signal booster for the majority of Muni-WiFi networks?
95% indoor coverage, without a high power client, is virtually impossible from an operator business model perspective as RF is RF and physics apply.
If so, expectations need to be reset to fit what is realistic as the WiFi client is always the determining factor for coverage.
Correct exectations would be a significant boost to our whole industry.
John D.
I agree, John. 
Managing expectations is a struggle in any endeavor. Logan Kleier and I talked about this the other day. Proportionate to the population,¬†Portland received very few complaints about the service. Most¬†of those they did receive were¬†from folks who¬†argued that “free service” should also mean they don’t have to purchase a singal booster.
It might be useful for munis to publish¬†hardware recommendations for service in the same way that software companies used to publish¬†minimal hardware requirements and¬†recommendations for the computer platform on which it should run. Concepts like range and signal-to-noise ratios are foreign to most people but insisting up front “you need this to make it work” might help to address complaints before they arise.