HERMOSA BEACH GOES WIFI!

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » August 10, 2004, 12:42 pm

Sorry this is a cut and paste out of a pdf to a word doc to this post.

Among the First City in the Nation To Offer Free Broadband Wireless Service, Hermosa Beach, California Launches Its Free Citywide WiFi Service on August 11th
HERMOSA BEACH, CA (July 26, 2004) – 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
(http://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% of the City, providing free wireless Internet service
to the Downtown, City Hall, and adjacent neighborhoods. Residents will now have free Internet access
available in their homes, at their favorite restaurant, or even while watching the sunset.
Hermosa Beach residents 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 WiFi began a year ago, 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 like other basic services, as a
public amenity and convenience,” says Keegan.
Hermosa Beach put the project out to bid in May and LA Unplugged was the successful system
Integrator. LA Unplugged designed and will install the system. Its President, Eric Black, recently
stated, “Hermosa Beach will deploy the most advance municipal WiFi 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.”
(more)
Hermosa Beach WiFi
Page 2
With local business sponsors helping offset the cost of the available bandwidth, the Hermosa
Beach Council is nurturing relationships with local merchants 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 Avenue with coverage extending to 35% of the land area in the city,
allowing users with line-of-sight to these elevated antennas in 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 access the signal on laptops with WiFi/ pc cards, or via a PCI
adapter plugged into 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, Ohiobased
WiFi Plus.
Let’s Celebrate!
The kick-off celebration for the citywide WiFi is 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 on August 11th 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 launch.
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 WiFi Program offers free broadband wireless service to all city residents and
businesses. Using the latest technology available, the program will be the most advanced wireless mesh
WiFi system in the country. For more information, please call (310) 318-0216 log onto
http://www.wifihermosabeach.com.
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Drolgin Steingrinder · August 10, 2004, 1:25 pm

I noticed this was a Bubba Grizz post and so my brain read this as 'HERMOSA BEACH GOES WILD', assumed it was a NWS forum post and clicked it expecting naked cheerleaders. I was disappointed.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » August 10, 2004, 1:28 pm

But think of all the good people of Hermosa Beach, who can now see those nekkid cheerleaders while eating lunch downtown.

Bubba Grizz · Post by **Bubba Grizz** » August 10, 2004, 1:50 pm

Here is a question I was thinking of when I was reading this. Free internet service is great but do you think that this is giving more control to the government? Granted this is a small city/town but it is still part of the government. Do you think that by having this kind of control there will be more "Big Brother" type of action? The would be able to watch where you go online, monitor you email, and listen into your chat?

Some say that they can already do that if they wanted to but I think it is much harder to do now due to private companies not wanting to give up information on their subscribers.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » August 10, 2004, 1:54 pm

Residents will now have free Internet access
available in their homes, at their favorite restaurant, or even while watching the sunset.
Hermosa Beach residents 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.

wow. The best I get on cable right now is around 3-4Mbs.

Life just got better in Hermosa if you're a homeless bum that can at least afford batteries for your laptop or can find an electrical outlet!

Metanis · Post by **Metanis** » August 10, 2004, 2:15 pm

Bubba Grizz wrote:Here is a question I was thinking of when I was reading this. Free internet service is great but do you think that this is giving more control to the government? Granted this is a small city/town but it is still part of the government. Do you think that by having this kind of control there will be more "Big Brother" type of action? The would be able to watch where you go online, monitor you email, and listen into your chat?

Some say that they can already do that if they wanted to but I think it is much harder to do now due to private companies not wanting to give up information on their subscribers.

Almost all internet service in the USA is delivered by either cable or telephone companies. Both are regulated monopolies with some element of government control or oversight. Your actions are subject to interception and scrutiny no matter how you obtain your internet access. I wouldn't except a city-owned system to be significantly more or less subject to monitoring.