Plugged In: Folsom comes up short on wireless service
Less than two years ago, Folsom leaders announced that the city could one day be blanketed with wireless Internet service via a powerful new technology known as WiMax
While WiMax is now turned on in Folsom, it hasn't yet transformed the city into a giant wireless hot spot. Instead, WiMax is being used by Folsom officials to strengthen its public Wi-Fi presence around the Civic Center Complex and Lembi Park, said Joe Luchi, the city's economic development coordinator.
Rather than connect scores of Wi-Fi transmitters and receivers to an Internet server via cables, Folsom is using WiMax to beam the data wirelessly to a single receiver, which is wired to the servers. That isn't exactly what was envisioned when Folsom and Intel Corp. teamed up on the WiMax project nearly two years ago. At the time, a feasibility study projected that the technology could drench the city in an Internet "warm zone" with just a few transmitters that could beam signals as far as 30 miles.
But that has yet to materialize, partly because of technical issues and because few laptops and other devices can send and receive WiMax signals, which operate on a different frequency from the more common Wi-Fi.
Luchi said that, for now, Folsom is studying whether WiMax can be used by city government to connect mobile employees such as police, firefighters and utility workers.
"We want to get our biggest bang for the buck," he said.
Fee for Elk Grove Wi-Fi
Speaking of Wi-Fi, Elk Grove's wireless Internet system went live this week, but it's not free.
The network, which covers about three square miles of the city's business and commercial areas, is run by Frontier Communications, which charges a use fee, similar to that charged at Starbucks cafes.
Frontier's telephone customers can access the network for $10 a month. Non-customers and those who want more limited use can pay fees ranging from $5 for four hours of connection time up to $30 for seven days of unlimited use.
Frontier spokeswoman Stephanie Beasly said her company anticipates the greatest use will come from Elk Grove residents who want the convenience of wireless connections while away from home. "We think this will get a lot of use from the soccer moms," she said.
The system is built to provide speeds of up to 1 megabit per second for both uploads and downloads, and is primarily designed for outdoor use, though it does penetrate some buildings, Beasly said.
Remote monitoring service
Seeking to expand use of its broadband and wireless networks, AT&T is offering a service that lets small-business owners remotely monitor up to five of their facilities nationwide via Internet-connected cameras and other sensors.
Called Remote Monitor, the service will alert business owners on their PCs or wireless phones of unusual occurrences such as motion being detected in a secure area, temperature climbing in a walk-in freezer or movement of locked doors or windows.
They can also use their Java-enabled wireless phones or computers to view what the camera is seeing in real time.
The new service puts AT&T in competition with security companies, which have offered similar, though more expensive, services for years.
Steve Loop, AT&T's director of business development, said the company is aiming at small-business owners who want to monitor multiple sites.
Prices range from $10 to monitor one location to $40 for five. A basic hardware package, including a single camera and one door or window sensor, costs $200.
More elaborate packages include cameras that can be remotely controlled to pan and tilt, and a digital video recorder to store video from up to four cameras for as long as 30 days.
Loop said the service is available to anyone who has a broadband connection and an AT&T data plan for his or her wireless phone.