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04/15/2005: "Support Free WiFi in Spokane"

In Spokane urges outdoor dining to boost HotZone use we find the following quote:


To broaden public use of the HotZone, groups who’ve launched the project want to help more than a dozen downtown businesses receive discounts on municipal outdoor café licenses, said Mike Edwards, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, a trade association for downtown businesses.


Here's my interpretation, "Hey, if we got people to drive downtown and eat lunch, our parking meter revenue will skyrocket!" While we're at it, lets screw the downtown resturants and coffee shops into a 2-for-1 permit deal!"

These nutjobs have forgotten that its bone-chilling cold during the winter, and 100F plus during the summer in Spokane. Further, for not much more than the $25/month that the city wants for an additional *permit*, any of these venues could install a cheap 802.11b AP and fund a DSL connection. With this option, they could offer their customers *free* wireless with no time limits, *and* they'll help shut down the entirely stupid Vivato-powered "HotZone" due to ever-increasing co-interference.

Here's an offer.

I've got a bunch of hardware sitting around that we're not going to sell, and it might as well go to a good cause.

If you own or manage a Spokane business (downtown or not), I'll *give* you the AP, gratis, if you use it to install free WiFi. You'll need to prove to me that you own or manage the venue in-question, and maybe agree to put up signage (hopefully in the window) that says you support *Free WiFi*. Maybe we'll set the ESSID to something like "Free WiFi!" or "Sink the Parkade". Getting the DSL connection going is up to you, but I'm happy to give you advice and guidence here as well. Its probably best for everyone involved if we figure out a way for you to buy it from someone other than 180networks, but the choice is yours.

So now you have a choice: give more money to the city for a permit, or DIY and give your customers something they want. Something that will drive them to your venue day after day; Free WiFi.

Offer limited to the first 50 respondants.