San Francisco municipal WiFi is live

First node of San Francisco municipal WiFi

MetroFi announced today the deployment of wireless mesh networks at San Francisco’s Civic Center, Ferry Building and Portsmouth Square. I visited all three locations this evening and SF TechConnect, San Francisco’s wireless access grid, is definitely alive and broadcasting. Using the network supposedly currently requires visiting a splash screen and accepting a terms of service document, but I could not establish a connection to any of the nodes.

(pictured above are the three network locations plotted on a Google Map. Please open this post in a web browser if you do not see a map)

Macworld reports the system uses both 802.11b and 802.11g protocols and a mesh between nodes is created using 802.11a. These access points are connected via a 36 Mbps wireless line-of-sight connection to Mount Davidson (about two miles south) and city-owned fiber.

The city now has open wireless connections covering its major events venues: Civic Center plaza, Union Square, SBC Park, and the Ferry Building. Sweet!

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