The City of San Francisco is now offering free Wi-Fi along the Market Street walkway.
Close to a decade after the leading financial and cultural center of Northern Calif. and San Francisco Bay Area announced its plan to be a Wi-Fi-powered city, the international tech hub is slowly turning that into a reality.
What used to be impossible had come to reality due to the impressive progress of technology that provides dependable and high-capacity Internet access.
The free wireless Internet connection will be accessible to users from the Embarcader to Castro -- along the Market Street – under the username “_San_Francisco_Free_WiFi.”
The free network can reach a maximum of 50 Mbps speed, both up and downstream – a speed better than what we have at home. However, some factors may cause a slowdown of speed like congestion on the network, distance to the access point and the device used.
Some can’t help but ask, “Why place it in the Market Street?” Simply because placing a sought-after free and fast outdoor Internet connection attracts different people and according to San Francisco CIO Marc Touitou, the connection paves way for “a diversity of people along the corridor.”
Another advantage for this network is its assistance to many people on the go. Service providers like Republic Wireless, for instance, now have super cheap plans that transfer a call made using an Internet connection to mobile use without dropping the call.
Furthermore, it could be of great help to the city’s poorest residents, not only with socializing, but with their studies also.
“It’s not a gadget; it’s not a luxury; it’s not a nice-to-have,” said Touitou to AllThingsD. “It’s a basic service of connectivity.”
However, it not inevitable to think that this public offering will prompt users to use gadgets outdoors and as a result fuels crimes of theft and snatching.
That’s a problem, Touitou said. “As always, we should advise people to be careful with anything with value,” he said, adding that handset makers and carriers need to implement better ways to disable stolen devices. And of course, the network is open — so people may want to refrain from using it for sensitive online activities.
Touitou added that the service won’t disturb users with advertisements, and will identify users who have already accepted the terms and conditions before.
