Local Governments Modernize Their Networks to Support Free Public Wi-Fi

In a growing number of counties and cities, free public Wi-Fi is key to government efforts to close the digital divide and provide equitable access to online services for all citizens.

“People have talked about public Wi-Fi and what it might do for communities for decades,” says Nick Maynard, co-founder and CEO of US Ignite. The organization works with local governments to advance the communications networks that are critical to smart city development. “Historically, we’ve seen these cycles of everyone being super excited about it and then interest kind of dying down” as communities pivot to other priorities, he says.

Today, Wi-Fi installations are on the rise as big cities and small towns alike look closely at the pandemic-exposed inequities associated with poor broadband access.

“Free public Wi-Fi isn’t a silver bullet for connectivity problems, but it is definitely an important tool in the toolbox for many communities,” Maynard says.

Delivering Reliable Connection Across in the Fairgrounds

The network at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center needed expansion, as a recreational vehicle park within the fairgrounds was constantly dealing with spotty coverage, Domitrovich says. A separate Wi-Fi network for vendors also faced challenges: Some reported struggling to process customer payments because of persistent connectivity problems.

The county ultimately installed a new Wi-Fi system based on the Cisco Unified Wireless Network. The solution combined new cabling and switches with wireless LAN controllers, centrally controlled access points and a next-generation Meraki firewall. The installers used wireless-signal heat maps to determine the best locations for AP placements, and the county IT team set usage restrictions and content filtering parameters to minimize congestion.

“The main thing was preventing issues that might slow the network down,” Domitrovich explains. The Cisco platform simplifies that job, and it allows his team to segment the Wi-Fi system into zones designated for different groups of users.

“We decided on three networks,” he says. “Two we’ve dedicated for visitors and vendors. The ticketing company uses the third for connecting to its home base and scanning and validating people’s tickets.”

Domitrovich adds that since the new system was deployed, his team has only rarely had to think about the fairground’s Wi-Fi service.

“Sometimes you get a vendor coming in who might need a little help with setup, but other than that, bandwidth isn’t an issue, and everything’s pretty much trouble-free,” he says.

READ MORE: Network assessments support government IT modernization.

Texas Provides New Tech Throughout Troup

One community reaping the benefits that come with offering free public Wi-Fi is the city of Troup in the hills of East Texas.

Troup is home to only about 2,000 permanent residents, but it consistently attracts throngs of visitors to several big annual events. A few years ago, says Suzanne Loudamy, executive director of the Troup Community Development Corp., the Troup city manager approached her to see what it would take to get a public Wi-Fi project off the ground.

“The idea was that we have this great downtown with restaurants and businesses and all kinds of things, and what’s the first thing that people always do when they’re deciding where to eat or where to go shopping?” she says.

Increasingly, many visitors opt to pull out their phones. “They start Googling and looking at menus and checking websites for reviews.”

Because Loudamy didn’t want “to reinvent the wheel,” she began by consulting with leaders in nearby Mineola, a small city that had recently completed its own public Wi-Fi deployment. Its success provided her group with an example it could use in presenting a proposal to the Troup City Council, and in September 2021, it received the thumbs-up to move ahead with the initiative.

“From there, things happened fast, and it really didn’t require that much from us,” Loudamy says.

Verizon led the way, working with a local telecommunications partner to survey central Troup and map its busiest areas. The city eventually decided on a wireless WAN solution compatible with Verizon’s LTE and 5G networks.

Infrastructurewise, the package consisted of a dozen Cradlepoint routers. Controlled through the networking equipment company’s cloud-based NetCloud Manager, the ruggedized devices were mounted inconspicuously on business rooftops and city telephone poles.

LEARN MORE: Milwaukee chose fabric to maintain a modern city network.

Ensuring Wi-Fi Coverage Is Crucial for Citizens

Loudamy says her only real responsibility throughout the installation process involved making sure that Wi-Fi coverage would span to key community locations.

“There’s a large building materials company on one side of town, so we thought it was important to include them, and then it was mainly our restaurants and stores. We skipped the open fields where there’s nothing but cows,” she explains.

When the Wi-Fi system went live in winter 2022, business owners embraced the service with informational signs posted in store windows. The local newspaper also covered the event, and within a year the town had recorded more than 14,000 unique Wi-Fi users.

“We’ve had a lot of good feedback from visitors and residents,” Loudamy says, adding that some shop owners say they’ve turned to the public Wi-Fi on occasions when their regular internet connections are down. “The best thing about the system is that it works. People really appreciate that.”