Don't miss our upcoming Network Computing virtual event on Connectivity Solutions - Secure Your Complementary Seat Now!
The Windy City is preparing to become the Wi-Fi City: Chicago plans to solicit bids from technology companies this spring to create a giant 228-square mile hotspot that would cover the entire city.
The proposal, announced by city CIO Chris O'Brien, comes as other large U.S. cities labor to find a workable model to bring no-cost or low-cost wireless broadband to their citizens. Philadelphia is deploying citywide Wi-Fi with Earthlink building the infrastructure and San Francisco is considering an offer from Google to deploy the service.
In Boston, Google, Earthlink, and Hewlett-Packard are showing signs of interest in bringing a WiFi network to the city.
The Chicago proposal to inaugurate citywide Wi-Fi has a major problem that could also complicate other wide-area wireless rollouts: it is called Wi-Fi. There has been a major proliferation of Wi-Fi hotspots in the city and there are fears that they could pose interference problems for a citywide wireless service.
Wireless market research firm JiWire reported last month that Chicago has 501 Wi-Fi hotspots, placing it third behind San Francisco (801) and New York (643).
Network slicing could be the answer to 5G rollout – but it's not easy to implement. Automation provides a way forward.
Wi-Fi 7 products, due out in 2024, will offer significantly more performance for enterprise users and can support more users in denser environments compared to Wi-Fi 6.
6G will leverage many different bands and tools to meet the ever-growing demands and expectations for cellular communications.
