ChicoNet Free Wireless Internet Goes Live
To celebrate the opening of the newly redesigned downtown park and promote downtown businesses, a new wireless system is in place to provide free unlimited Internet access for anyone with a computer with wireless capability in the downtown area.
Click here to see a map of the coverage area and surrounding streets. The service is a broadband wireless signal broadcasting named ChicoNet Free Wifi from the tower of the Senator Theatre. The signal was deployed and tested during the final construction phase of the downtown park and is now live. To connect, users need only look for that signal name and connect using the software that controls their wireless access. No additional software is needed, and no authentification in terms of username or password is required to connect. As of now there are no time or usage limits; users can stay online as long as they want.
Click the here to see a view from the tower of the Senator taken December 21st, 2006.
Signal is available primarily in the new downtown park area and anyone should be able to get connected and use the Internet just as they would at home or at work.
If the free access is popular, ChicoNet plans for more free wifi hotspots in the downtown area.
'We want people to be able to just hang out in the downtown area and browse or work online without having to pay anything,' said August Germar from ChicoNet. 'Hopefully it will translate to more people being downtown supporting local businesses and help Chico build a reputation as a tech-friendly city. In other countries and many other cities here in our county, free wireless Internet Hot Spots are becoming a standard part of everyday life, and it's nice to help keep Chico on the cutting edge this way. I think free access to information like this really benefits the community in a lot of ways.'
