Milwaukee Wireless Initiative Update
Work continues for the Milwaukee city-wide wireless network according to the latest “progress report” on the initiative from the City:
Work in the demonstration area (bounded by I43 [10th St.] on the east, US41 [47th St] on the west, Canal St. on the south and Vliet St. on the north) is proceeding. In the past several weeks a limited number of antennas have been placed on electric and street light poles, which will be part of the “mesh” network when they are “powered up” and start to operate. As the antenna “mesh” becomes denser, reception will improve, but may not be optimal at first, depending on where the user tries to connect to the system.
Hard to say what a “limited” number of antennas is, or how much progress is being made since the progress report is also very “limited” on specifics, but regardless the project is again behind schedule.
Work on the “demonstration area” was supposed to be completed by January 16th 2007, and that was even a delay from the original timeframe the demonstration was supposed to be completed within.
I’ve expressed my frustration before with the pace at which the work on this project has proceeded and these developments do nothing to give me hope that the project will be completed anywhere near schedule.
On the flip side of that, I’m one of the testers for another wireless project in the Milwaukee area being run by the Milwaukee Public School system. They’re using “Wi-MAX’ technology and already have a working system up and in place. The speed and connectivity so far has been great, and I will have more details on that in the near future.
Milwaukee Wireless | Dan Cody | 
February 13, 2007 12:53 pm
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