Sunday’s Oregonian looks at perceptions of Portland’s municipal Wi-Fi project, now in its fourth month. MetroFi won the contract to build Portland’s WiFi network covering some 134 square miles. MetroFi (technical FAQs) offers two main service levels for consumers — “free” 1Mbps (with a banner ad) or $19.95/month 1 Mbps service (without ads).
MetroFi has erected about 300 Wi-Fi antennas around Portland, but only 68 of them are currently turned on (detailed map), according to Mike Rogoway in the Oregonian. The others won’t be activated until the city signs off, probably sometime this month, on the network’s initial phase.
Portland residents have become accustomed to dropping into coffee shops all over town that offer free Wi-Fi courtesy of a volunteer group called the Personal Telco Project. It turns out, though, that what works well in the confines of a house or small shop isn’t easy to replicate across a whole city.
“Wi-Fi’s just a tricky piece of tech,” said Bart Massey, a computer science professor at Portland State University. Massey and Personal Telco members bid unsuccessfully last year for a city contract to help monitor MetroFi’s performance.
In some places, he said, Wi-Fi signals carry a long way. But in others, neighboring networks, competing radio signals or even industrial equipment can drown out the signal. There are usually ways to overcome interference, Massey said, but they require careful monitoring and an enormous amount of fine turning.
“There’s just a lot of variability in that environment,” Massey said. “You can sort of see why it might literally take years before you make everybody happy.”
I live in Portland and have been following the progress somewhat lackadaisically. I can “see” a couple of SkyPilot cannisters about a 1/2 mile away, but they haven’t been made available to the public yet.
But — really — people shouldn’t be surprised if they can’t receive WiFi inside their homes. An outside wall can attenuate the signal 10-14db. If you can (barely) get a signal outside, you’ll need a 14db antenna inside.
I use a $60 Engenius 200mW client and a $30 panel – which seems to work fine. But a $50 Meraki repeater could be just the ticket for many users.
I also tried the $125 Ruckus MetroFlex DZ from my Portland apartment near the Pearl district, thanks to my friend Roger Ryder (who bought one). Ruckus uses internal MIMO antennas which can “lock on” to a signal that fluxuates wildly. The 200mW radio coupled with six directional elements (and 63 unique antenna patterns) proved effective. It locked onto open networks of my neighbors that were previously not able to provide a reliable signal. I have yet to see how it will work with MetroFi, but I’m optimistic.
I’m waiting for MetroFi to get closer to my downtown Portland apartment before I draw any conclusions.
Related DailyWireless articles include; Meraki Rocks, Bridging the Digital Divide, Ruckus Tiers MuniFi with $200 WiFi Box, PepWave Client Adds LCD, Ruckus Repeater for MetroFi, Geocoding Content & Telemetry, Portland MetroFi: Phase 2, Portland’s MetroFi: Initial Reactions, Corpus Christi & Portland: Cutting The Cord and Portland Cuts the Cord Tuesday.
