Thank You For this article, we interviewed Cole Rienwand, Vice President of Product and Marketing Strategy for Municipal Wireless at EarthLink. We also spoke to Pam Benke, Marketing Communications Manager; Michael Fabbri, Director; and Rick Rotundo, Director of Marketing; all from Motorola. Thanks to all of them and to the other experts we spoke to at MuniWireless 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Imagine you're a reporter writing about a tense hostage situation, and you're on a tight deadline. You don't have time to drive back to your office, and if you leave you'll miss out on the developing story. Fortunately, you have wireless access to the Internet -- you can write and file your story without leaving the scene.

Part of your article describes how police have access to real-time feeds from security cameras. From their patrol cars, officers monitor the situation and access blueprints of the building, including its entrances, exits and hiding places. They use this information to plan what to do. They also have a secure network connecting them to a hostage negotiator.

When the situation is over, everyone believes this municipal wireless network and the information it carried helped lead to a peaceful resolution. In this article, you'll learn about the amazing things that these networks can do -- besides potentially providing free or cheap Internet access. You'll also learn about the technology behind them and why "Municipal WiFi" can be a misnomer.

Wireless Basics
The early days of home Internet access required using a modem connected to a computer to dial a number and maintain a connection. It was cumbersome and slow. The faster modems became, the more people realized how painfully sluggish data transmission had been in the days of 300 baud. Eventually, home users who could afford a jump in price could get broadband access via digital subscriber lines (DSL), cable and satellite.

Old and busted: connecting via dial-up. See more pictures of municipal WiFi.

Broadband access is faster than dial-up, but until recently you still to plug your computer into a wall jack or a piece of equipment. Wireless networking, or WiFi has changed all that. Wireless networks use 802.11 networking standards to allow devices to communicate. In a WiFi network, data travels from place to place via radio waves. You still have to physically connect a wireless router to a modem, but you can move your computer from place to place.

802.11 networking uses the unlicensed radio spectrum to send and receive data. Many other parts of the spectrum, such as the bands that carry radio and TV signals, require a license to use. The unlicensed spectrum is accessible to anyone who has the right equipment. In the case of wireless computer networking, that's a wireless router and wireless technology in the device you're using.

Photo courtesy HowStuffWorks Shopper New hotness: wireless networking.

Since 2002, many people have set up wireless networks in their homes. Businesses have done the same, giving their employees additional mobility. Public gathering places, like coffee shops, parks and libraries, have created WiFi hot spots, hoping to draw in additional businesses. The number of public hot spots has grown rapidly -- analysts estimate that there will be 200,000 of them by 2008 [ref].

Photo courtesy City of Tempe Users take advantage of a wireless network in Tempe, Arizona.

Now, cities have begun setting up municipal wireless networks. As of January 2006, 186 United States cities had their networks up and running or had definite plans to build one. That's up from 122 cities in the previous July [ref]. Some of these networks provide high-speed Internet access for free, or for substantially less than the price of other broadband services. Others are for city use only -- they allow police and fire departments and other city employees to do certain aspects of their jobs remotely.

Cities currently proposing networks have several goals. They want to improve worker productivity, make the city more attractive to businesses, bolster the economy, bridge the digital divide or do all these things with one network. The United States is also 16th in the world in broadband penetration, which some leaders believe is a sign that the nation is falling behind [ref]. A wireless network might make broadband access more available and affordable for more people.

Often called "municipal WiFi," these networks use more than just 802.11 networking. A wireless access point in a municipal network is also different from a typical WiFi hot spot. Next, we'll look at the "mesh" that makes a wireless network.

If you think municipal WiFi could change the world, then click here to read about wireless mesh networks.

Wireless Standards Wireless networking uses a range of standards -- the rules that routers and receivers use to communicate with each other. Most common are: 802.11a - 54 Mbps data rate in the 5 GHz band of the radio spectrum 802.11b - 11 Mbps, 2.4 GHz 802.11g - 54 Mbps, 2.4 GHz 802.11e - 54 Mbps, 2.4 GHz, with quality of service (QoS) protocols, which should improve VoIP and streaming media quality A separate standard, 802.16 (or WiMAX), transmits at 70 Mbps and has a range of up to 30 miles. It can operate in licensed or unlicensed bands of the spectrum from 2-6 GHz. WiMAX typically links multiple 802.11 networks or sends Internet data over long distances.