CEDX

LIRR Penn Station Hotspot Update - Service Call Logged

Managed service fans, hear this.  After a night of consulting in Gotham, I was heading back out to the wilds of Long Island, and decided to see if the hotspot in the LIRR waiting room had been brought back to life.  This time, I couldn't even associate to the network.  The rather grumpy, short-tempered, sharp-tongued, silver-haired customer service fellow didn't believe me when I said there was a wireless network in the waiting room, even when I pointed out the sign.
On the off chance I would have more luck, I went to the customer service office where I had a pleasant conversation with the younger fellow on duty, who indeed knew about the network, and was unaware of anybody having issues.  He was under the impression that few people used it. ( managed services could either confirm or disabuse him of that notion )  However, he did treat my news seriously and logged a service call with the railroad's IT helpdesk.  I won't be back in town this week, I think so if somebody wants to leave a status report in the comments to see if the IT department followed up on the service call, please be so kind.

The Great Peconic Bay Marina Joins

The latest customer of the CEDX wi-fi network is The Great Peconic Bay Marina, located in South Jamesport, New York, on the beautiful North Fork of Long Island.  Access is complimentary to slip owners, who will be given a username and password by marina administration.  We are very happy to have The Great Peconic as part of our network, and look forward to a long relationship and smooth sailing.

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LIRR Penn Station Wi-Fi Derailed, or In Praise of Managed Services

On the way back from a holiday, the fam and I stopped in Penn Station to catch our train back home.  Proud of myself for being completely off the grid for 5 days, I could hold out no longer, and wanted to see what email delights awaited me.  Having used the hotspot in the waiting room once before, I opened my laptop, connected to the LIRR_HOTSPOT_11G network, got an IP address, and... nothing.  Turns out, name resolution was not functioning.  Of course there's no way to let the railroad management know this, other than this blog post, but somebody needs to reboot the little netgear router they have running the thing.

When you offer a service, it better work, otherwise people get pissed, because they plan their movements around it sometimes.  Trust me, I've had earfuls from users expecting a malfunctioning hotspot to work.  It's like the plumbing, when it works, nobody notices, but when it's broken, all hell breaks loose.   Part of the issue with wi-fi in places is its unmanaged nature.  Things break, software and systems hang occasionally, and somebody or something needs to be on the lookout for when bad things happen and something needs a kick to get it started again.  Unfortunately, the massive number of independent venues don't get this, and it seems the railroad needs to be reminded of it too.  I'd be happy to manage the spot, keep it running, and even post some PSA's or do advertising.  Simply making sure the service is working as advertised will make folks a lot happier and less angry at the railroad.

Westward Expansion in Cherry Grove

We've added an access point in Cherry Grove on the west end of the town, on top of the building known as Holly House.  The SSID is FIWISPCGWEST, and those residents west of the town dock should be able to see our service now, where we couldn't deliver a signal before.  To steal a page from Henry Powderly's book, er, blog, here's a google map showing our two APs in the Grove.

 

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New wifi hotspots in the Garden State

UrbanHotspots is pleased to announce our new partnership with City Beans Coffee and Hudson City Caterers, providing complimentary wi-fi at their Harborside and Gateway Center cafes.  With a purchase, customers get one hour of access, using a complimentary card  given out by the cafe staff.  UrbanHotspots customers can use their existing accounts, or prepaid cards.   The Harborside location is convenient to the Bergen-Hudson Light Rail Line, and the Gateway Center location is on the third floor.

New UrbanHotspot - Klatch

The newest member of the UrbanHotspots network was turned on this afternoon, Klatch, the great coffee bar ( with a liquor license !) on Maiden Lane between Broadway and Nassau Streets in the Financial District.  The first fifteen minutes of wifi are free with a purchase, ask for a card at the counter.  After that, normal UrbanHotspot rates apply ( $6/day, $30/month )  Klatch features excellent pastries from Balthazar, doughnuts from The Doughnut Plant, and a constantly changing selection of art installations.  Check in for various groups that get together there.  Thursdays is a Knitting Klatch! Open M-F 7AM-7PM, and Saturday 8-5.  212-227-7276

It was Kismet, plus a lot of hard work, as Wi-Fi returns to Kismet

After months of delay and waiting through weeks of miserable winter weather once the paperwork was done, Wi-Fi has returned to the petite village of Kismet, the westernmost community on Fire Island.  Perched atop the beautiful new Fire House, our relocated Saltaire access point is broadcasting the SSID FIWISPSALT out to the Marina, the homes, the Fire Island Lighthouse, and the western edge of Saltaire.  Many thanks go out to the Fire Commissioners of Kismet, and we at Fire Island Wireless look forward to reliably serving the Fire Department and the community with wireless broadband for many seasons into the future.

Assemble the Fleet!

The next wave of Hampton Jitney Wi-RANs has been launched.  Our primary target for this service has been the Manhattan to the Hamptons market, but  Hampton Jitney runs special NASCAR race tours, so our Wi-Fi really roams, and we get to kick the tires on the nation's networks.  Last week, a tour went to Bristol, Tennessee for a race, and folks were surfing the web on that really long ride.

If you're on any of the following twelve buses, you're connected with Wi-RAN:

                       

51
56
62
66
67
68
75
76
83
84
86
89

Twelve down, and twenty-four to go!

Wi-Fi Roaming

CEDX would like to inform its users that through our roaming relationship with cafe.com, we can offer an additional spot in Manhattan to use your CEDX wi-fi account, and that's Kudo Beans, at 49 First Avenue, in the East Village of Manhattan.  Cafe.com visitors from the left coast can also use CEDX hotspots, a listing of which can be found on Jiwire