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The invisible connection

Businesses tap into wireless phenomenon with free Internet access for customers


The Hutchinson News


By Dave Stephens

dstephensAThutchnews.com

Coffee shops have it. The pancake house does, too. And downtown. And the library. And the hospital.

Free wireless Internet access points - called Wi-Fi hotspots - are beginning to appear all over town.

The phenomenon isn't new. Wireless Internet access has been a common technology for more than five years, and many computer users have established wireless Internet networks in their homes.

But now, businesses - especially those wanting to encourage patrons to stay awhile - have begun establishing their own wireless networks.

Downtown, Sanford Computer Works has established a wireless hotspot by broadcasting an open access signal from a tower on its roof - providing free wireless access to a two- to three-block radius from its location near the corner of Main and Avenue A.

"One of the intentions was to give people another reason to come to the downtown area," said Stanford Yoder, the store's owner.

Isaiah Salmans, a Hutchinson Community College student, takes advantage of free wireless Internet access Tuesday in Hastings' Hardback Café.

Yoder said people using Avenue A Park or sitting on benches along south Main Street would have little problem connecting to the site, but that the signal wasn't strong enough to penetrate the brick or stone walls of many businesses.

Using the service does require a registration, Yoder said, and directs users to the store's Web site. A content filter is in place to prevent people from viewing obscene material, but Yoder said use of the wireless signal had few limits.

"It's a wide-open signal," Yoder said. "There's no charge for it, and I don't think we're going to charge for it at any point."

Three Hutchinson coffee shops also offer wireless Internet access, although one, Starbucks, requires users to pay a fee. Hastings' Hardback Café, in the Hastings store at 30th and Plum, and Einstein's Perk, 119 S. Main, offer free Internet service.

"It's pretty popular," Einstein's employee Erin Hill said. "A lot of people in the morning will stop in and get coffee and use it before work."

Other spots with free Internet access include the Hutchinson Public Library, Hutchinson Hospital and the IHOP restaurant.

Wireless Internet access in Hutchinson, however, is not limited to just stores and coffee shops - it may someday be available across the city.

Hutchinson city manager John Deardoff said a Wichita-based company, Syntracom, has a contract to install wireless Internet antennas on utility poles throughout the city.

In October, Syntracom told the city it had about 100 customers and was continuing to develop a wireless mesh network in various parts of the city.

"I think they've established 19 or 20 wireless antenna on streetlight poles, plus some on other structures," Deardoff said.

Deardoff said there has been some informal talk among city leaders about the advantages of creating a citywide wireless Internet network, but there probably won't be a city-led effort to start an initiative.

"Some communities have created a program where it becomes a free utility for the city," Deardoff said, "but that's probably a little bit beyond our means."

Getting the signal

Hutchinson Wi-Fi hotspots

Einstein's Perk coffee shop

Hutchinson Hospital

Hutchinson Library

Hastings' Hardback Cafe

IHOP

Sanford's Computer Works

Starbucks (paid service)
01/10/2007; 02:38:39 AM