[August 04, 2004] Hermosa Beach And Strix Launch Free Wireless Service Hermosa Beach changes the way the Internet is delivered to its city by launching the first hi-speed citywide free wireless service in the nation (www.wifihermosabeach.com). On August 11th, 2004, the beach town of 21,000 will launch Phase 1 of the Citywide Plan that will cover approximately 35 percent of the City, initially centering around the Downtown, City Hall, and adjacent neighborhoods. Residents will now have free Internet access available at their favorite restaurant, or watching the sunset. Hermosa Beach resident’s now have a choice to surf the Internet just as they surf the Pacific - with Rad Speed (up to 6 Mbs per second –5x the speed of dsl) and glassy conditions. The city will provide the FREEWAY to the Internet for the public – just as it provides other basic services to its residents. The quest for free Municipal Wi Fi began a year ago, as the brainchild of City Councilman Michael Keegan. Keegan’s two years of experience with a Hotspot at his local bakery/café led him to this dream of free municipal wireless connectivity for the city. Following several discussions in council chambers, the plan was accepted. “The vision is to provide the Internet to the city in the way that other basic services are offered, as a public amenity and convenience,” says Keegan. Hermosa Beach put the project out to bid in May and the successful system Integrator was LA Unplugged. This Los Angeles based business designed and will install the system Its President, Eric Black, recently stated, “Hermosa Beach will deploy the most advance municipal Wi Fi system in the country. It has the highest throughput, the strongest security, and the broadest coverage available in the WiFi marketplace today. Each communication node consists of multiple radios, advanced mesh networking software, AES encrypted wireless backhaul links, and multi-polarized antennas. This system will be the model for others to emulate.” With local business sponsors to help offset the cost of the available bandwidth, the Hermosa Beach Council is nurturing relationships with local merchant to expand the system and make this a model for the region. How Does It Work? In Phase I of the Hermosa Beach Internet signal deployment, 9 access point/nodes will be placed up and down Pier Ave with coverage extending to 35% of the land area in the city, allowing users with line of sight of these elevated antenna locations to access service. Those outside this initial area can also tap into the signal if they have line of sight to the City Hall. The commercial areas of Pier Ave, along with City Hall and the Library will be “lit up.” Residents and Merchants can use this signal on laptops with built-in Wi Fi or using Wi Fi cards, or they can put a PCI adapter onto their desktop models, which have an antenna that can pick up the signal. Key system component are provided by Calabasas-based Strix Systems and Brunswick, Ohio-based WiFi Plus. Let’s Celebrate! The kick-off celebration for the citywide Wi Fi will take place on August 11th, from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m at the beautiful 1935 Art Deco-style Hermosa Beach Community Center, located at 710 Pier Avenue, with a reception following at Sangria Restaurant, located at 68 Pier Avenue. Refreshments and food will be available to all attendees. Hundreds of residents and city council members will be present to celebrate the event. Hermosa Beach will activate its free Municipal Hi-Speed Wireless (802.11a/g WiFi) signal at the event. All guests are encouraged to bring laptop computers and Web enabled devices to test the new system at both locations. The Hermosa Beach Wi Fi Program offers free broadband wireless service to all city residents and businesses. Using the highest technology available, the program will be the most advanced wireless mesh Wi Fi system in the country. For more information, please call (310) 318-0216 log onto http://www.wifihermosabeach.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]