Going wireless
Wi-Fi the high-tech trend in public places
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Warren County businesses are going wireless.
Tony Smith had the best seat in the house at the Mason Buffalo Wild Wings Jan. 8 for the first Bengals’ playoff game in 15 years. Dressed in Bengals colors, Smith had another way to make his playoff experience more enjoyable — his laptop computer.
Buffalo Wild Wings is one of many restaurants and other Warren County businesses offering Wi-Fi, or wireless Internet service, to its customers at little to no cost.
Smith uses the restaurant’s service to keep tabs on the players he picked for his fantasy football league.
Or, more candidly, “To look at how bad I’ve gotten my butt kicked in the playoffs,” he said.
Like most restaurants that offer the service, Buffalo Wild Wings doesn’t charge its customers. Smith comes in up to five times a week to enjoy the food and drinks and surf the Web.
“I just come in here, throw in my (wireless) card and I’m off to the races,” he said. “When they say I’m a regular, they mean I’m a regular.”
Joe Mangus, the store manager, said his restaurant has offered the service for more than two years and it is very popular with patrons. Users can even borrow a wireless card if their computer doesn’t have one.
“We have a very good lunch crowd that uses it and a younger crowd that uses it for Internet gaming,” Mangus said.
Smith expects to see the number of places offering Wi-Fi continue to grow because more and more people are working in outside their offices.
“A lot of people, especially salesmen, need to check their e-mail on the road,” Smith said.
Offering the service is relatively easy and cheap for a business, said Darrick Zucco, Lebanon Telecommunications director. All that is needed is an Internet connection and a wireless access point.
However, businesses should be careful — without adequate security, computers on a wireless network could be vulnerable, he said.
Lebanon Telecom, one of only three municipal-run communications departments in Ohio, is testing Wi-Fi hot spots for its technicians to use, Zucco said.
“We’re in the process of testing the technology on poles in the right-of-way,” he said.
If that program is successful, the city may consider offering Wi-Fi service at certain outdoor spots in the city, he said.
Free outdoor wireless Internet access is already available in a number of cities across the country. Dayton is considering taking the service city-wide, according to city officials.
Currently, Lebanon provides Wi-Fi access at Full Cup Cafe, on Columbus Avenue, in exchange for advertising of city cable, Internet and phone services.
Tay Cochran, Full Cup Cafe co-owner, said the service has been popular with customers.
“I’ve noticed a lot of new faces come in to use the computer,” Cochran said. “It’s pretty popular.”
Contact Christopher Magan at (513) 696-4525 or cmagan@coxohio.com |
