Is it just me or does Toronto Hydro’s Wi-Fi network come way short of meeting expectations? First, the concept of having to get an instant-message on your wireless device to get a user name and password is just so user unfriendly. Although I do understand the concerns to collect this information to prevent nefarious activity on the network, you would think they could come up with a way to do it online such as collecting credit card information (you wouldn’t be charged but Toronto Hydro would have your information just in case you did bad things).
Of course, once you connect to the network, it doesn’t mean you’ll get a good user experience. Jeremy Wright and I are at an office at Adelaide St. W. and Spadina (on the edge of Toronto Hydro’s Wi-Fi zone) and he’s getting a miniscule two kilobit/second of download speed. I remember two kilobit/second with fond memories back in the days of dial-up. Anyone had a good experience with Toronto Hydro’s Wi-Fi dreams? Anyone got the seven megabyte/second speeds they’ve touted.
For more insight/news on how and why cities in the U.S. are embracing municipal Wi-Fi, check out the latest issue of Time magazine.
I have to say that I disagree. I’ve had the same username and password since the start, and they still work, memorized in my computer’s keychain file. And whenever I’ve used the OneZone it’s worked fine. There was one day I tried it during a lunch hour and couldn’t log on, due to an outage, but apart from that I’ve had few complaints about it.
Some friends and I were talking about it tonight. She runs a coffee shop on Queen with her own access for her customers, and she can see the OneZone now. She says that it works in her place also and she may turn off the customer access soon.
Perhaps you’re in a bad location. Dunno really.
I wouldn’t recommend collecting credit card information unless you are going to charge the customer, there may be legal obligations on why, how and for how long this information can be stored. Why would anyone give their credit card information just to be granted access to a free wifi service. Getting the username and password info via a sms on cell phone seems like a really good and probably the most secure way given current circumstances.
I’m going downtown tomorrow for another meeting. Let’s see if Toronto Hydro can change my mind!