Fade to Play

As a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada [map], I have been fortunate to attend a university where WiFi is available across campus. What this does is help students become more productive as the Internet can be accessed anywhere as needed (e.g. in the Student Union Building, in front of Koerner Library, or while studying in the pool). However, whenever I travelled across the street to the UBC village, it was like I was in a deadzone. The only WiFi available was through Starbucks which wasn’t free.

I was surprised when I went on Sunday to the UBC Village to meet a friend and while attempting to access the Internet, a screen appeared by WiCity offering free WiFi. I had no idea what it was because I hadn’t heard anything about free WiFi in the village and really wondered if it was legit. However, I felt reassured as I recognised the company name: Photo Violation Technologies because I had blogged about their trial Parking Meter system last May. I cautiously registered with a username and password and I immediately able to get online. I didn’t notice any problems with accessing webpages and the quality of the service seemed to be on par with what I am used to on campus.

Being the inquisitive person I am, I emailed the contact email address which led to a phone conversation on Monday with Priya Chand, Client Relations Manager for Photo Violation Technologies to answer questions I had and provide information about what they were doing in Vancouver.

She stated that they had been offering free WiFi in the UBC Village since August as part of an ongoing trial. There are 3 access points: one at the old Helley Hansen store (Western Parkway), one at Starbucks (Dalhousie Rd), and one at the Pita Pit store (Allison Rd) which is across from a park. The 3 access points are mounted on the UEL owned light poles that are located in front of Starbucks (Dalhousie Rd), The Dollar store (Dalhousie Rd) and one in front of the Pita Pit (Allison Rd). The benefit of the trial is to be able to calculate different statistics regarding usage in a controlled environment. So far about 30-40 unique MAC IDs are logged on at any one time. Each access point has a 300 foot radius meaning that the park is within range and the objective of the trial is to show the benefits of WiFi. This site is to be a test model for future rollouts in the rest of North America. At present, the other trials are in Niagara Falls, NY and San Francisco. There aren’t any other test sites in Canada.

I’m excited that there is free WiFi in the UBC Village and as students become more aware of this service (perhaps through prominent signage/stickers), it should become quite popular.

Experiencing free WiFi courtesy of WiCity

Relevance: This is a great opportunity to use my laptop in the UBC Village as I need to access the Internet while doing grad research. Free WiFi rocks!!!