Free Zone Wifi

Why Create a Wi-Fi Zone?

We helped downtown areas create public Wi-Fi zones for a number of reasons that revolve around economic development, including the ability to promote local businesses on a splash or landing page, the attractiveness of free Wi-Fi to tourists, the fact that having this kind of connection “signals” to outsiders that a town is forward thinking, and, finally, the opportunity for those who might otherwise not be able to have the internet at home (whether this is because there is no option for a fast connection, or whether they simply cannot afford one) to access the internet from a broad area.

You can read more about why a community might want a Wi-Fi zone in this article The Benefits of Public Internet Access

How to Create a Wi-Fi zone

The implementation of Wi-Fi zones in downtown areas was begun through the e-Vermont program, which used a model pioneered in Woodstock Vermont to create Wi-Fi zones in 7 Vermont towns. This service was in such high demand, that through the Vermont Digital Economy Project, another 16 Wi-Fi zones were created, along with 10 hotspots.

e-Vermont communities reviewed several options for how to provide Wi-Fi zones in downtown. At the time three main models existed in Vermont:

  • Wireless zones created by a Wireless Internet Service Provider – Great Auk Wireless (GAW) has set up several of these zones, including in e-Vermont Community Newport.
  • Wireless zones set up by a company that use existing Internet Service Providers Summit Technologies has established these zones in places such as the Burlington International Airport and rest areas along the Interstate.
  • Wireless zones set up by local volunteers as a “Do It Yourself” model Wireless Woodstock provided the model for this approach in e-Vermont.

e-Vermont followed the “Do it Yourself” model, as did the Vermont Digital Economy Project. This is what is described below.

While more intensive, this approach ensures that a community fully backs the project, and by incorporating more voices into the project, more individuals know about it, understand it, and begin to support it. It is also usually cheaper, though it is most successful when there is a dedicated coordinator who can manage the process.

What is Wi-Fi?

From a user’s perspective, most smart phone users have limits on the amount of data they can download on their phones, and to use it, they need to be within range of a tower (which can be challenging in some rural areas). Often, given the choice between joining a free local Wi-Fi network or using up data (which they pay for), users will opt for the free Wi-Fi. Currently, data plans can be expensive!
Meshing: the Difference between a Wi-Fi zone and a Wi-Fi hotspot

Most home Wi-Fi systems come out of one router. This Wi-Fi can be referred to as a hotspot.  As you walk around your house, the farther you get from your router, the lower the signal is. Some houses may have two routers, but when you select which network to connect to, you’ll see two different options for connection (one for each router). As you move from, say, the first floor to the second, if you have two routers, your computer will have to disconnect and reconnect to a new network. With a mesh system, on the other hand, several devices are installed which “talk to each other.” By using devices that mesh, we can create a Wi-Fi zone, which is different from a hotspot primarily in the amount of area it covers.

To create a “wireless mesh” we install several pieces of hardware that talk to each other and serve to create a zone. They mesh with each other, meaning that as you walk through the zone, your smart phone or computer will pick up the signal from whatever hardware you are closest to without disconnecting from the one you are leaving behind and asking you to reconnect to a new area.  The result is a larger area with very good signal throughout. If you’ve ever been to a hotel or an airport with Wi-Fi throughout the entire building, it is almost certainly created through a mesh network, with a number of devices “repeating” the signal between each other (and meshing) so that you can have a seamless experience.

5G Internet Access

5G is the fifth generation of wireless technology. It’s faster than 4G, capable of surpassing 1,000 Mbps speeds—raising the possibility of faster cellular phones, new options for home internet, and more.

But what makes 5G internet speeds so much faster? And what are other important differences between 5G and 4G? We’ve been following the latest developments on 5G internet and 5G speeds closely, so we’ll break it down for you. Read on for answers to common questions about 5G and lists of options for 5G plans and devices.

How does 5G work?

5G is the next evolution of wireless networks to follow in the footsteps of 4G. It uses some of the same technology as 4G, but also incorporates higher-frequency radio bands to make internet speeds faster and your connection more efficient. 

5G also uses new technology like massive MIMO, beamforming, and small cells—transmitters posted to utility boxes and light poles that can carry 5G’s Wi-Fi signals in densely-populated areas. 

There are currently three types of 5G. 

  • Low-band 5G has speeds similar to 4G but a long range, perfect for rural areas.
  • Mid-band 5G has a shorter range than low-band 5G, but it will drastically boost your speeds and lower your ping rate.
  • Millimeter-wave 5G only works in contained areas (like buildings or stadiums) but it’s extremely fast, capable of surpassing 1 Gbps speeds. 

Right now, most cellular companies are prioritizing millimeter-wave 5G and the lowest-band forms of 5G, which is slightly faster than 4G and has less lag. 

But the Federal Communications Commission is also opening the door to wider use of mid-band 5G, which experts believe will be the most common—and most effective—for the vast majority of American cellular and home internet customers. 

5G cellular race

Until recently, Sprint was another player in the 5G game of thrones. But T-Mobile and Sprint recently joined forces in a corporate merger, and the companies are currently in the process of combining their 5G networks under the name The New T-Mobile.

Categories 5g

New Vps Server

With a VPS, you still share a server’s resources with other users. However, unlike shared hosting, your site still gets dedicated resources in its share of the server.

For example, if the server has 8 GB of RAM, your VPS might get 1 GB of that 8 GB of RAM. The important thing, though, is that you never need to share that 1 GB of RAM with anyone else – it’s 100% yours.

To divide these resources, a VPS hosting provider uses something called a hypervisor to create virtual machines for each customer on that server. It’s not really important to understand the technology – you just need to know that each account on the VPS is completely isolated from the other accounts.

Let’s look at housing as an analogy. A VPS is kind of like a condominium building. If you own a condo in a building, that condo is 100% yours. Your neighbors can’t just commandeer your living room because they’re throwing a big house party

However, you also don’t own the entire building – you’re still just one condo of many. This means you can’t, say, decorate the entire building. In server terms, this means you can’t customize the hardware according to your needs because you’re still just one tenant in the server.

What is a dedicated server?

As the name suggests, means that you get the entire physical server dedicated to your website(s). Instead of getting just a part of the server like you do with a VPS, you get the whole thing.

In addition to potentially getting you more resources, the big advantage of this approach is that you have full control over the actual physical hardware inside your server and the software that’s running on it.

For example, maybe you prefer AMD processors to Intel processors – you have that level of control with a dedicated server. You can also control every single piece of software on that physical hardware.

Let’s go back to the housing analogy. In this scenario, a dedicated server would be like buying your own house. You’re the only person who owns that building – it’s 100% yours. What’s more, you have full authority to customize the entire building as much as you want.

Categories Vps
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