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Free the Net rolls on, in the Tenderloin
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This morning, wireless mesh networking company Meraki Inc. held a press conference alongside San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to announce an expansion of the firm's free WiFi network into a dozen affordable housing complexes in the Tenderloin.
Meraki also announced that their "Free the Net" mesh has now reached 80% of San Francisco neighborhoods. That's a pretty impressive-sounding figure, but as you can see by checking out Meraki's SF network map, reaching a neighborhood is quite a different matter than covering a neighborhood.
For instance, while there are pinpoints of Meraki presence in the Richmond, where I live, and the financial district, where I work, there's not enough coverage for me to make much use of the network at this point.
It's good to see Mayor Newsom embrace the Meraki effort, at least in words (from Meraki's press release):
"The city at the heart of technology and innovation ought to be the first city in America to have a free, public wireless network that gives every single resident the same ability to benefit from all the Internet world has to offer," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "I want to salute and congratulate our hometown hero Meraki on the upcoming completion of this network and for everything they’ve done to make sure even our most underserved communities can participate in the network."
The Mayor's sentiments are all well and good, but I'd love to see him expand his Free the Net embrace by offering to host the Meraki repeaters on as many pieces of city property as possible.
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