Who's Using Decatur Wifi?
Decatur Metro | November 7, 2008 | 4:44 pmProbably the most commonly asked question that shows up in my Inbox concerns Decatur’s wifi. Some people mistake me for the city and ask if they can advertise on the homepage (yes, please send cash to…), while others don’t understand how/where to sign up (HERE is the answer) and empty-handed reporters write to me for possible contacts to talk about the service.
My own experience with the service is limited, since the wifi polls on my street aren’t that close to my house and because of all the trees in my neighborhood, I can only get a really weak signal out on my front porch (nothing inside). And before you ask…no, I haven’t tried ordering a wifi modem from Get The Speed to see if the indoor signal would improve enough to rule my Comcast Highspeed Internet obsolete.
So what does this all boil down to?
Well, I’m curious to know who out there is using Decatur’s new citywide wifi regularly and what you think of it. I’d love to hear from the folks that use the free 128k signal and the “high speed” signal, both inside their home and out on the town. Thanks in advance!
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i was in oakhurst wednesday, at a house where i was working, and i managed to get a strong signal. it was the first time i’d been able to. in my apartment on adair, i’m not able to see the network, let alone pick it up.
I often use it when our home connection is down.
A few months ago, we were using it regularly due to some problems with our laptop’s wireless settings (we had a wireless connection through our PC initially, then we somehow messed it up). I haven’t tried it since September when we reconfigured our wireless settings. The Decatur wifi signal was rarely more than a bar or two; occasionally during the day it was a little stronger. It made no difference if I took the laptop outside even though according to the map, there’s supposed to be a transmitter just up the street from us.
Pretty pathetic signal over here off Scott Blvd, though I can see the network. I’d love to have it working at least as a backup, but I suspect I won’t be cancelling AT&T.
I live near Scott and Clairemont and can only get it if I’m outside in my (understanding) neighbor’s yard – nothing inside my house. However, up near Maediris, the signal is much better.
There’s a Decatur wifi router about 75 feet from my desk at home. I can see it from my window, but have to be standing at my window to use it. If I back away from the window, I don’t get the signal. I don’t get the signal from any chair in my house.
The only time I’ve used it for an extended period is at the library. Otherwise, it’s weak.
I’d rather the city take down the one near my house and cluster the routers near affordable and public housing. I certainly don’t need more Internet.
DGM emailed me this comment…
The Innsbruck Condominiums are on E. Ponce across from Holy Trinity Episcopal Chuch and next to Glennwood Academy. 2 units face Ponce and 24 units run north approximately 500 feet..
The 2 units along Ponce and the first 4 units on the east side of the driveway receive a strong signal from the Ponce corridor. The last 3 units on the east side and the 9 units on the west side can access the signal reasonable well from Glendale. The remaining units on the east side are blocked from the signal on Ponce by Glennwood Academy and the 9 unit on the west side.
We purchased a Get-The-Speed modem at the Decatur WiFi Meeting on April 29th. At one time the transmitter/receiver located on the telephone pole at E. Ponce and Ponce de Leon Court had 4 antennas which provided a strong signal to the end 6 units along the east side. After this device was downgraded, none of the end units could receive a signal.
Until the final testing and setup is completed (Decatur never answered our email RFI in July), we will not subscribe to this service. It could be a nice feature offered to condo owners in the future and would also support Decatur’s wireless service.
We live on a cut thru street in Winnona Park and I can see the DecaturWiFi on my network list, but there is no signal. There are several poles with the wifi units attached on surrounding streets but I am not holding out any real hope that they are going to provide a strong usable signal to my house or my nearby neighbors. The Get The Speed website says the 2 free hours a day service is 128k, but I didn’t find how much faster the service was if you paid by the month. I am increasingly using more bandwidth with things like VOD and my AT&T DSL gives me 5mb down and unless I can get something comparable from DecaturWiFi I will have to stick with DSL or a competing product like cable or AT&T’s Uverse.
Just to be clear, the company does provide a wireless modem (which is different from a wireless router) that is supposed to improve the signal. You stick it to your window and hope for the best. It doesn’t sound like many of you are using that…you’re just trying to get a signal with your laptops, right?
And there in lies the problem in my opinion…if people are going to go to the trouble of renting/buying a wireless modem to use with Decatur’s wifi, they are going to want it to work. So for most people, its just easier to stick with what they have.
Maybe the company could set up appointments with residents to determine how strong the signal would be? Or hold a little “fair” in different neighborhoods, where people could take a modem home for 30 minutes, try it out and decide whether its worth it? Bringing back down the street seems like less of a hassle than returning it in the mail.
Just thinking out loud.
I have been overseeing the wifi project since we received the Wireless Communities Georgia grant from the State. With funding from the State, Agnes Scott College, Columbia Theological Seminary, City Schools of Decatur and the DDA, we planned to develop a citywide wireless network. We knew that this would be ambitious but we really wanted the whole city covered because the primary use of the network is meant for outdoor access for mobile city workers such as police officers, firefighters, inspectors, etc. in addition to having coverage on the ASC campus and at the seminary. Then we decided that since the whole city is going to be covered, let’s also make wireless access available to the public. That’s where we’ve found some real challenges. The neighborhoods are proving difficult to service due to trees, topography and the general nature of wireless. If a wireless radio is across from your house, you may have a great signal, but your neighbor 5 doors down may not get the signal. We have partnered with an Internet Service Provider, Get The Speed, to sell the service and provide wireless modems for indoor coverage. We’ve also had some false starts with going live with the network. We started selling service and leasing modems when the first phase was complete. But as we entered the second phase, that work impacted the stability of the original phase. So, we’re not ready to advertise the service quite yet. The network engineers still have a few more radios to put up and others that need tweaking. Nonetheless, the project must be completed before the end of the year. So, the next few weeks will entail finalizing the network, testing it, and finally having an accurate coverage map that we can publish. I like the ideas that DM presented to help people figure out if they have coverage. Short of telling folks to ‘take your laptop outside and look for a signal’, it’s hard to know how strong the signal will be at a particular location.
Also, someone commented on providing coverage for affordable and public housing. The City has partnered with the school system to provide computer training to families in Decatur public housing. After the successful completion of the training, the family will receive a refurbished computer with wireless access. The City will ensure that the families have a subscription to the wireless service and a wireless modem, if needed.
I really appreciate everyone’s patience throughout this project. We’ve learned a great deal to share with other communities across the country who are also pursuing wifi. And after all of the challenges, I still believe that we are doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Please contact me with questions, concerns and suggestions at .
Thanks for the detailed update Andrea!
I’ll make sure to post again once everything is finalized…I didn’t realize they were still working out the kinks.
I wasn’t aware it was still “pre-general availability” either. I was in the Courthouse for jury duty last week and saw the signal from the waiting area but could not connect.
If I could be so bold as to ask Andrea (if she’s subscribed or watching this thread), what does the end user support plan look like for the supplied, re-furbished computers? That sure sounds like a HUGE service liability and potential expense (forget the security liabilities)!
For me, the concept of public access makes sense but I have not been able to wrap my head around the liability issues. If a government builds a bridge that collapses due to negligence in design and build, then the govt is liable (as are its agents). If the government builds a “free” and public on-ramp to the web, is the government liable for damages if privacy violations and subsequent crimes are committed by or against the subscriber using the service???
I use Decatur Wifi!
Granted, I only have access on my balcony or when I leave the balcony door open, but Decatur Wifi is my only means of internet at home.
I think it’s great. It’s just fast enough to be usable, and just inconvenient enough to get me to do something other than constantly check email.
I live in downtown Decatur in one of the condos and used to get a better signal when it “was” in beta form. I found out that Oakhurst, and the “affordable” communities and public housing communities around got a better signal than we did, so I sent Andrea an email, to which I received an impolite reply. She copied in one of the developers who told me that since I use a laptop, Im pretty much out of luck, b/c the service wasn’t meant for laptops but for PCs. If they are going to provide it for downtown Decatur residents, they should provide it for ALL – not just the “affordable” areas. That’s a political issue if you ask me, and it isn’t right or fair to the rest of us who pay our Decatur taxes and support our local businesses.
DDR, sounds like an issue that you should bring up with your City Commissioner.