There was an interesting article in the Toronto Star about how Toronto Hydro’s Wi-Fi network has seen slow growth in terms of subscribers and its footprint. From a technology standpoint, the article raised the question about whether Wi-Fi made sense given Wi-Max is emerging as a better wireless option. Truth be told, Wi-Fi outside the home can be a hit or miss proposition if you’re looking for a connection that is robust, reliable and fast. I’ve got an evaluation account with Toronto Hydro so I’m going to give it another whirl this week. One thought: if Toronto Hydro is really serious about getting into the Internet access business, what about running fiber to the home given it’s already got accounts with everyone already?
Mark, post a review of the service if you can. I haven’t used it since the free trial ended in March, and even then it was painfully slow.
Mark, I attempted to use the service a few times on my Nokia N800 Internet Tablet and found it was just not a service at all. Either could not get web pages to come up properly (my first test is to bring up a Google Search or News page) or it would not log me in. Somehow they are missing the basics of a WiFi service. I just went away thinking they need to get to Phase II quickly.