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River's Edge gets upgrade to Wi-Fi [St. Cloud Times, Minn. :: ](St. Cloud Times (MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 19--To many, high-speed Internet is a necessity. Users expect Web pages to load within seconds and for bandwidth to sustain usage. So when large groups pour into River's Edge Convention Center every month, Sales Coordinator Rich Gallus was among those who realized the 25 megabyte Wi-Fi pipeline was not benefiting its customers. That changed July 11. With the help of iStyxX network, the convention center has quadrupled the capacity of its Wi-Fi pipeline to 100 megabytes. The network has undergone a series of tests after the installation and is showing positive results. "The basis of the new network was to enhance customer experience. It's offering (a) ... more robust connection," Gallus said. "With it being a secure network, we're not giving the same password out to everyone in the building." Individual users can access the service by going online to join. The RECC office no longer needs to serve as a medium. A fee of $4.99 will be assessed for a day's worth of use. Groups can buy access and supply personal Wi-Fi codes to their members. The old network began to experience problems when about 40 users were online. It was designed for groups having conferences, meetings and seminars and was priced at $125 per day. Individual users did not have access to Wi-Fi. The new service will accommodate hundreds of users with few to no interruptions. "Large organizations are able to purchase for their entire group as well. We're still finalizing those numbers, but each individual (from the group) would receive their own code to go online," Gallus said. The Minnesota School Nutrition Association will be among the first large groups to test the connection during its three-day annual state conference from Aug. 4-6. Each day is expected to have 1,000 attendants, all of whom will be able to comfortably access the Internet. Follow Channler K. Hill on Twitter at Channler K. Hill. ___ (c)2014 the St. Cloud Times (St. Cloud, Minn.) Visit the St. Cloud Times (St. Cloud, Minn.) at www.sctimes.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |