There are 834 sites in Jersey City covering a five mile radius where you can get Wi-Fi service, according to CNET.com’s Hotzones webpage.
A search of those locations reveals that while most offer free Web access, some come with a price.
Locations listed include McDonalds, Starbucks, hotels and independent coffee shops for those
looking to surf the web while having their croissant and latte.
What’s really free when it comes to free Wi-Fi? What if someone with a laptop, netbook or i-Phone isn’t in a location that fits the right category?
“It was either serving refreshments or providing free internet, and the latter won out.” – Paul Silverman
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What is Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi is not a technical term. It’s a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, an organization that promotes wireless technology. To the public, the term, branded on various computer and phone equipment, means you can get access to a wireless local area network. But most of these networks are secured with passwords, which is a problem if you’re not on that network.
Crystal Floyd, a downtown Jersey City realtor, sees there’s a need for more free Wi-Fi service without having to stop into a Starbucks or other venues. On a recent trip to South Korea, she noticed not only were Koreans way ahead of the U.S. in phone technology such as video phones but could also get Internet access everywhere.
“I absolutely think that more of free Wi-Fi should be offered because I think there is not enough,” Floyd said.
Newport Centre Mall
The mall, located near Sixth Street in downtown Jersey City, has it all, including free Wi-Fi.
A recent visit by a reporter with his laptop began in a lounge area right outside Macy’s. The classic Frosty the Snowman cartoon was showing on a TV screen propped above the lounge while a few shoppers were taking a rest from their holiday shopping.
A click of an icon showed the wireless networks available in the mall. The one to access was ‘SIMON WI-FI.’
Once the computer specified that it was a public network, it was quick and easy to get on the internet. A webpage for the Simon Company, which runs the mall, comes up with a section where one can access the internet as long they agree to terms and conditions of use specified by the company.
After you agree, you can access the internet and begin surfing at will, whether it’s to check out Gmail, the Hudson Reporter webpage, or even the controversial WikiLeaks website to see if it still active (yes, it is as of Dec. 10). Other than an occasional slow loading page, the service worked pretty well for the 45 minutes spent.
Hamilton Park
Checking e-mails in a freezing city park may not be your idea of how to get free Wi-Fi. But try it on a seasonable warm day in the future, when it shouldn’t be hard to find an excuse to escape to the park and access the Wi-Fi provided gratis by the developer brothers Paul and Eric Silverman.
The park is located between Eighth and Tenth Streets and reopened in May after a one-year renovation.
To access, click on the Hamilton Park Wi-Fi listing for wireless access and a page comes up for Hamilton Square, the building located across the street from the park. Built by the Silvermans, it has the equipment that makes the park’s internet work. An hour spent on a park bench during a busy afternoon allowed for typing out an e-mail message, searching on Google for information for a future article and about the laptop being used, and checking the World Socialist Web Site.
Paul Silverman said last week that the idea to provide free Wi-Fi came out of a weekly staff meeting on the reopening of the park.
“It was either serving refreshments or providing free internet, and the latter won out,” Silverman said.
Just in November alone, Silverman said based on a report kept by his company on Wi-Fi usage in the park, 74 people since November 10 have taken advantage of the service.
Lincoln Park
A stop in the Hudson County-run park on the west side of Jersey City necessitated use of the Wi-Fi service there.
In a car parked near the park’s entrance on its western end overlooking Highway 1 & 9, the free wireless service was gained quickly and easily on a laptop, with the Hudson County government web page immediately seen.
A search for directions to a location in Kearny for a future story was found after some research, easier to do than the actual trip, mired in traffic and misdirection.
Wi-fi has existed in the park since early this year, according to Hudson County spokesperson Jim Kennelly. Kennelly said the equipment was installed as part of the project to put security cameras in the park.
Kennelly encouraged county officials to pursue putting Wi-Fi in the park, the second in the parks system after Bayonne’s Stephen Gregg Park.
“In my research, I found that this county is so underserved when it comes to Wi-Fi outside of what is offered at hotels,” Kennelly said. “It just made sense to do this, and that’s why we did it.”
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.