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Free to roam

City is establishing wireless Internet networks in two downtown parks

By STANLEY A. MILLER II
smiller@journalsentinel.com

Last Updated: June 3, 2003

This summer, you will be able to lounge in a park downtown and surf the Web for free, courtesy of the City of Milwaukee.

What Is Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi, short for "wireless fidelity," works a lot like a cordless phone. Radio transmitters are linked to a high-speed Internet connection, and then any computer with a receiver within a few hundred feet can potentially pick up the signal. Wireless Internet Graphic/Bob Veierstahler Wireless Internet

City Hall is setting up high-speed wireless networks in Pere Marquette Park and Cathedral Square Park that will let anyone with a properly equipped computer or handheld device connect to the Internet. The networks should be up and running this summer, possibly this month.

Randy Gschwind, the city's chief information officer, said the project will use few tax dollars because of arrangements with a few private companies that are donating the equipment and Internet service, including Cisco Systems and SBC Communications Inc.

Milwaukee is among the first cities in the United States to provide wireless Internet access in public spaces, modeling the project after an effort in Long Beach, Calif., in which that city's Economic Development Bureau set up wireless Internet zones in a downtown restaurant district.

The City of Milwaukee still is working out some technical details, including a way to power some of the network equipment that will be mounted on top of street lights near the parks.

The system should be able to handle hundreds of users, allowing park visitors to use laptops and handheld devices to surf the Web, check e-mail and play games while sitting at a picnic table.

City officials say the wireless zones will be a boon to the downtown crowd, from professionals on their lunch breaks to students who want use their portable computers to study in the sunshine. People attending the Jazz in the Park concert series in Cathedral Square will be able to log on to the Web and look up information on the songs they are listening to.

"They are going to sit with wine bottles out and their laptops right next to them," Gschwind said.

Wi-Fi in the parks

The wireless networks use a popular technology called Wi-Fi, which is short for "wireless fidelity" and sometimes mentioned by the technical description 802.11b. The system creates short-range wireless communication using high-frequency radio waves that are transmitted by devices called access points.

In general, Wi-Fi works a lot like a cordless phone. Radio transmitters are linked to a high-speed Internet connection, and then any computer with a receiver within a few hundred feet can potentially pick up the signal.

The city's system will be similar, but "industrial strength," Gschwind said. The city's wireless antenna - which will be linked to a high-speed digital subscriber line - will be on top of the Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway. Network transmitters on street lights near the parks will relay the Net signals from that access point, connecting people remotely.

People with laptops, personal data assistants and other devices that have Wi-Fi access cards will be able to link up with the network at 128 kbps, more than twice as fast as typical dial-up modems. Adapters that let laptops connect to the Net via Wi-Fi cost around $50.

The access points around the parks will have a range of 500 to 600 feet each, he said, and there will likely be some wireless network "bleeding" where the field of Internet connectivity extends beyond the borders of the parks.

Network open to all

Ben Sherwood, a privacy adviser and president of Sherwood Personal Security, based in Oakbrook, Ill., said people using a wireless network should not conduct sensitive or private communication over the system.

"It's a huge security risk. Whenever you use a wireless network, you are opening yourself up to the information you're sending being snatched out of the air by someone else," he said.

Sherwood said buying items over the Internet or checking an online bank account using a wireless network would be a bad idea.

Gschwind said the city will run an open wireless network, with no content filtering or time limits. People logging onto the network will be required to agree to an acceptable-use policy, promising, among other things, to use the connection responsibly. The system will track the number of users and other data to see how popular the network becomes.

"We will learn as we go and evolve this thing," Gschwind said.

The wireless project is scheduled to last a year, and although the network equipment should be fine during the summer and fall, the city is still contemplating what to do when winter comes.

"Realistically, you could see people using it into October," Gschwind said.

Fields of wireless Internet access are floating all over downtown, from colleges and cafes to home networks and private businesses. Many of the open wireless networks in Milwaukee are commercial services that charge hourly fees, such as Alterra Coffee by the lakefront or Bella Cafe in the Third Ward. Wi-Fi networks have been around for years, and there are about 8,000 "hot spots" in North America with commercial Wi-Fi service, said Amy Cravens, a senior analyst with the research firm Instat/MDR.

But Milwaukee's plans for a city-sponsored wireless network is "somewhat unique," she said.

"There are only a handful of cities that have implemented similar networks," Cravens said. "This approach is still relatively new."

Industry experts and observers say the city's strategy is progressive and likely to be popular with tech-friendly residents and tourists.

"I think this is a wonderful thing that can happen to Milwaukee," said Greg Ryan, president of eCommandos, a technology consulting company in the Third Ward. "It shows that the movers and shakers in the political scene can see the writing on the wall."

Nigel Ballard, a public-access Wi-Fi advocate in Portland, Ore., and wireless director of Matrix Networks, said communities and governments setting up free networks are "forward thinking and progressive."

"If you want to attract attention, and you want to be looked at by outsiders as a hip, happening place, then you need to put in some city-backed Wi-Fi," Ballard said.

People enjoying a brief bit of sunshine in Cathedral Square Park on Tuesday said they generally liked the plan, depending on how much it costs taxpayers when it's complete.

"It's not a bad idea," said Dave Pennington, on a break between his shifts at nearby Louise's Italian restaurant. "Whatever money they end up spending could go to something else, but I don't think it's a bad way to spend it. The problem is that people will only be able to use it for a few months out of the year."

Still, Pennington said the city's wireless networks could draw more people to the parks, and others relaxing in Cathedral Square Park agreed.

"Personally, I would rather do some work in the park and be outside," said Rhonda Golson of Milwaukee, who was sitting at a picnic table with a friend.