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Downtown Roanoke’s
Market Square launches a Wi-Fi zone
by Virginia
Business Staff
November 2003
Roanoke’s
Market Square is a piece of the past that now has a
modern touch. A public-private partnership has set up
a free Wi-Fi zone in the popular downtown district.
All users need to reach the Internet is a PDA or a Wi-Fi
enabled laptop.
The
network is centered around the intersection of Market
Street and Campbell Avenue, and coverage extends for
two blocks in each direction along streets lined with
shops and restaurants and the city’s open-air farmers’
market.
Organizers
say their Wi-Fi zone is one of the first in the state
and boasted that it shows “how the Roanoke region
really is on the leading edge of technology.”
Wi-Fi
technology is popular because it’s relatively cheap
to set up. It uses a radio signal sent from a small
transmitter to deliver high-speed access over unlicensed
spectrum, the kind used by cordless phones. Scores of
restaurants, hotels and other businesses around the
state have set up Wi-Fi “hotspots” to attract
customers.
The
Roanoke zone was launched in September at the fifth
annual Commonwealth of Virginia Information Technology
Symposium held at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center.
The network was built by the Roanoke Higher Education
Center, with support from Cisco Systems, and backed
by Downtown Roanoke Inc. and the New Century Technology
Council.
It
uses the 802.11b standard for wireless communications
and provides access at speeds up to 11 Mbps. To reach
the network, users will have to create a user name and
password. More details about the network can be found
at www.RoanokeWiFi.com.
Virginia
Business - November 2003
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