Monday 18 September 2006 by Edward.

Free WiFi (wireless) internet access is spreading like, well wildfire. Highway restrooms in the USA are installing free WiFi to aid the weary or lost traveller. Bustops are connecting the commuting traveller to the web. And now towns are beginning to offer free, broad area WiFi internet access.

Here is a selection of free, city-wide or distributed WiFi installations I encountered on the web over the past few days:

Forest Grove, Oregon, USA

Springfield, Illinois, USA

Portsmouth, Virginia, USA (waterfront area)

39 Iowa highway rest stops

Toronto, Canada, downtown core

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Sunday 2 July 2006 by Edward.

Aaron Okajima, IT Manager for the Queen Mary commented “I had been searching for a company to (wire) this ship for quite some time. It is not an easy task – the Internet signal has to penetrate the ship’s thick metal walls to provide the necessary coverage, and there were aesthetic considerations ….” Telkonet lit up the entire 70-year-old ship, with 365 hotel rooms, with broadband Internet access in 5 days using 2 workers. “If we had installed conventional CAT-5 cable, Okajima continued, it would have taken at least three months, with a crew of 4 to 6, and would have cost significantly more.
We couldn’t be happier with Telkonet’s solution.”

Queen Mary visitors can now Google ’til they’re giddy.

I will be looking at BPL (Broadband Over Power Line), an alternative solution to traditional internet connections, in meeting tourist and tourism needs, over the months ahead.

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