IDG News Service - The idea sounds good on paper: Build a mesh network of wireless Wi-Fi base stations and let users roam around an entire city instead of providing limited connectivity in a handful of hot spots. But will it work? The city of Philadelphia hopes so.
"This is an interesting project because it entails building the world's largest mesh Wi-Fi network," said John Krzywicki, president of The Management Network Group Inc., speaking yesterday in an interview at the Broadband World Forum in Venice. But the consultant warned of challenges facing the venture.
"Even though a similar mesh network is operating in Chaska, Minn., that doesn't mean it will work in Philly," Krzywicki said. "The Chaska network is small. The one planned in Philadelphia is much larger, with all the complications of connecting hundreds of users in any given location at the same time."
Earlier this month, the city of Philadelphia announced its plans to invest in a new wireless mesh network based on the Wi-Fi 802.11b standard. By deploying Wi-Fi antennas on street lights and other traffic control devices, city officials hope they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the world's largest wireless Internet hot spot, the city said on its Web site.
In comparison, the Chaska Wi-Fi network covers about 13 square miles.
Between eight and 16 Wi-Fi antennas will be needed per square mile in Philadelphia, depending on the topography and buildings in the area, the city said. The plan is to connect these units and create a self-organizing and self-healing wireless mesh network.
Once complete, the Wi-Fi network, estimated to cost between $7 million and $10 million, would deliver broadband Internet almost anywhere radio waves can travel, including neighborhoods where high-speed Internet access is currently rare.
City officials are aiming to complete their plan by early December and to invite bids from Internet service providers and equipment suppliers by February.
Krzywicki said he knew of one other large U.S. city planning the construction of a similar mesh Wi-Fi network, but he wouldn't identify it.
In June, New York City unveiled plans to build a public safety wireless network of unprecedented scale and scope, including the capacity to provide tens of thousands of mobile users with the ability to send and receive data while traveling at speeds of up to 70 mph citywide.
This IT pilot fish at a government agency gets a call from the administrative officer, who's on the verge of hysterics: Her computer is dead, she's having a total meltdown, and it's all his fault.
Free Insider Guide