Hitting The (Hot) Spot

Bermuda has just got its first public wireless internet hotspot.

Although the service is still being tested, patrons of Hamilton's Rock Island Coffee Cafe equipped with a wireless-capable laptop or PDA can now surf the net at a blazing 512k while they sip their lattes. Access is free during the trial period.

Bermuda's not really a place where laptop-equipped yuppies throng the coffee bars. Indeed, there aren't many coffee bars for them to throng (no Starbucks here). As such I can't help but wonder how much use the service will get. But it's a cool idea anyway, and good to see Bermuda keeping pace technologically with the rest of the world for a change.

Comments

[Eric on 25.03.04 at 10:15]

"Kathy's Kaffee" on Front Street is going to have wireless soon (or perhaps might already, I haven't been in there in over a week). They had a regular terminal there, but I heard them telling customers that they will soon have a wireless link.

In larger and/or more urban populations you can increase your in store traffic, draw in new customers, and get more repeat business by adding a free hotspot - or in the case of Starbucks and a few others you can even charge for a universal account and people will pay that as well.

While Bermuda seems to have a lot of computers (was it half the island?), I haven't seen a lot of laptops here compared to say Boston/Cambridge - and that is in the business world. I have seen even fewer in the general public.
The ones that I have seen are dated and don't have built in wireless.

In general, Bermuda seems to be about 2-5 years behind in all internet technology and prices here - so perhaps in a few years we will see more and better wireless service in various cafes in town and perhaps even around the island.

Wireless is a great way to give net access to a large group without having to spend much money at all on building an infrastructure.
The main hurdle is security, privacy issues, and authentication. Do you want people using your hotspot to do nefarious things? Do you want them using it for free? Do you want them sniffing it for user traffic (that one is the easiest to fix)?

Perhaps I am wrong, but I would say that the average business here, especially the coffee shops and cafes, are the least prepared to answer those questions, and likely don't even know that they should ask such questions.

Perhaps in that case, it is good nobody is using them at this point.

I have my 802.11g laptop and would love a 512Kbps connection anywhere I could get it, free or not. I have 256Kbps at home and 128Kbps at work.
(all the more amusing that cable users in many other countries get 1.5Mbps easily, but hey, do they have our weather and views? maybe.)

[Ace on 26.03.04 at 19:01]

My biggest concern with any wireless service is packet loss.

Wireless is great for web surfing, but if you play online game, as I do, the packet loss could make a wireless connection unuseable for gaming purposes.

Has anyone tried to play online with this service yet?

[Eric on 27.03.04 at 00:04]

I am on wireless all of the time, but I don't play games - at least not networked ones.

You are going to have far more issues with the bandwidth of your physical connection here (DSL) than you are with the wireless. If you have a solid connection, the bandwidth between your computer and the wireless station is far greater than anything you can get in Bermuda in terms of internet. (11Mbps for 802.11b and 54Mbps on 802.11g - the fastest you can get over DSL in Bermuda is 512Kbps)

Assuming you are getting a strong signal from the wireless base station to your computer, then you should be getting that bandwidth to the unit, and then immediately getting the same slow speed over the DSL as you would were you plugged into it (most all routers/switches that you can get for home use are either 10Mbps or 100Mbps - they are just now putting out affordable 1000Mbps units, but that would only be the speed of your local wired network and would have nothing at all to do with your outside connection).

I SSH into servers in the States which should technically be a more sensitive connection to packet loss than any game (TCP instead of UDP - depends on the game I guess), and I have no problems at all at home, but at work it is useless. My home connection is faster and therefore why it works.
The wireless at either location isn't the weak link, it is the line connection after that.

[The Limey on 19.06.05 at 22:36]

Anyone know where the wireless hotspots are in Hamilton these days (apart from Rock Island)?

[sleepy on 20.06.05 at 09:19]

The Cabinet Office puts out a nice signal.

[Tiger Bay on 20.06.05 at 10:00]

No, that's just the remote control signal that Ewart uses to programme Alex's head.

[loki on 20.06.05 at 12:08]

Phil, feel free to pop by my office and tap into KEMH's network. I'm about half a mile away from the hospital and have no idea how, or why, I receive their wireless network signal, but I do.......

[Two Cents on 20.06.05 at 12:22]

HASN'T THE BEACH ON FRONT ST HAD A FREE WIRELESS HOPSPOT FOR OVER A YEAR NOW???

I AM NOT SURE OF SPEEDS OR CONNECTION..... BUT JUST WALK BY ALMOST ANY DAY THE CRUISE SHIPS ARE IN PORT. ALMOST EVERY TABLE HAS SOMEONE WORKING ON THEIR LAPTOP USING THE BEACH'S WIRELSS SYSTEM

YOU SOMETIMES EVEN SEE PEOPLE SITTING ON BENCHES ACROSS THE STREET (FRONT) WORKING WIRELESS(LY)