WebJunction

We are fortunate to have a local cable company (Cablevision of Long Island) that offers schools & libraries in the area a free cable modem at no cost.

They limit connections to 25 simultaneous users via a simple SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) router that they supply and configure.  They don't mind that we are using the connection to supply bandwidth to a wireless hotspot.  All I had to do was purchase an access point and wire it up.  To my surprise, not many libraries in my area take advantage of this free offer.  The education division of Cablevision maintains a Web site at http://www.powertolearn.com/ with all the details.  It may be that other cable companies in the US do the same.

Once we determined where the bandwidth would come from, we then had to come up with any modifications to our Internet policy and decide if we wanted to implement some sort of access control.  After some discussion it was decided that the hotspot would be completely open and not require a login of any kind.  Many libraries are concerned about having an open door to the Internet that can be accessed by everyone and anyone.  I considered using a product like the Polaris Wireless Access Manager (WAM) to provide the security that would make me feel more comfortable as manager of technology.

Unfortunately, the powers-that-be decided it was too much to spend (upwards of $1000) simply to control access to that connection.  I would feel more comfortable if access to the hotspot required some sort of authentication.

Information on Polaris' WAM product can be found at http://www.polarislibrary.com/Products_Services/WAM_info.asp.  I would be very interested in hearing about what other libraries have implemented in terms of access control.

I found an excellent FAQ that the Hennepin County Library put together that helped me come up with one of my own: http://www.hclib.org/pub/info/wireless.cfm

We decided to add ourselves to a popular Wi-Fi directory, JiWire's Global Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder, located at http://www.jiwire.com.  I would love to come up with large and clear signage for our entryways and the inside of the library that would inform our visitors that we have a wireless hotspot available for their use…

Other than some nagging hardware issues (cable company-related), we have had positive reactions from our users.  I chose to go with an access point that was tri-standard compatible (802.11a, b, & g) so that our hotspot would work with just about any Wi-Fi-branded product out there.  I purchased the Linksys WAP55AG.

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