[PLUG] Personal Telco monthly meeting

Russell Senior russell at personaltelco.net
Tue Mar 27 16:39:29 UTC 2007


Because of the cross-over interest, I thought I'd post this here.
Sorry for the noise.

Contact: Russell Senior                          FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Email: info at unwirepdx-watch.org


COMMUNITY WIRELESS RESEARCHERS PRESENT RESULTS OF METROFI WIFI TESTING
       Preliminary results of an independent evaluation will be
               presented at the Personal Telco Project
                Monthly Meeting on March 28 at 6:30pm


During the Summer of 2006, the City of Portland signed an agreement
with MetroFi, Inc (Mountain View, California) to build a city-wide
wireless network that promised to provide ad-supported, free-of-charge
wifi Internet service to Portland.  As part of the 82-page agreement,
MetroFi agreed to initially deploy their network service in a
Proof-of-Concept area.  Expansion beyond the Proof-of-Concept network
was to be contingent on an independent confirmation that the network
performed up to the standards set out in the agreement.  The City
solicited bids to perform the independent evaluation and awarded a
contract to Uptown Services (Boulder, Colorado).

The results of the official Uptown Services evaluation of the MetroFi
Proof-of-Concept wireless network are expected in the next few days.

In addition to the official test, two local researchers and community
wireless activists, Caleb Phillips and Russell Senior, have performed
their own evaluation, and are ready to present some preliminary
results Wednesday evening during the monthly General Meeting of the
Personal Telco Project, a local community wireless networking
educational non-profit organization.

Among the preliminary results presented will be detailed maps showing
the boundaries of the Proof-of-Concept network as they compare with
MetroFi coverage claims, the locations of the access points,
street-level signal levels found in an extensive survey, a statistical
assessment of how well the network measures up to the expectation of a
connection in 90% of outdoor areas based on a random sample of
locations, as well as a general discussion of what they have learned
about the MetroFi network during their evaluation.

The preliminary results will be followed by a more complete report
when it is finished in the coming days.  The report will be available
for download at www.unwirepdx-watch.org.

The monthly meeting of the Personal Telco Project will be held at
Urban Grind Coffee at 2214 NE Oregon St, on Wednesday, March 28th,
starting at 6:30 pm.

                                # # #


-- 
Russell Senior
russell at unwirepdx-watch.org
http://www.unwirepdx-watch.org




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