Guest Grandpa Bob's son Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I was sidelined by my car today and had to go to Firestone on State Street in Binghamton. Since I had my fatther's laptop, I decided to check out the wifi everyone has been talking about. I am definetely satisfied - I have three bars (out of 5) sitting here in the waiting room as they fix my car. It took a second to access because the four photos on the main page didn't load up. But after I clicked one of the boxes, I had access. Both my Yahoo and MSN messinger programs are working and I am quite satisfied. Now, Binghamton has to let visitors know that this service is available. I only knew because people here complained that it wasn't up when it was supposed to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Last i knew It hasent even been installed? Nor approved? maybe you were on another wireless form another source? Im not even a mile from downtown and i dont get a City of Binghamton signal but im tagging on another one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 If you have wireless capability you can pickup signals form various sources including private residences that have wireless routers. Most private residences don't bother to go through the trouble of having their wireless router signal encrypted!! Therefore anyone within 200 feet of such a residence can not only pickup the internet off of their router but can easily hack into their computer and access their information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Last i knew It hasent even been installed? Nor approved? maybe you were on another wireless form another source? Im not even a mile from downtown and i dont get a City of Binghamton signal but im tagging on another one. Youlive on another planet? it is up and running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 It should list "Binghamton wireless" as the source. I'm sure you can access many wifi systems all over town that have nothing to do with the municipal system. That was one of the reason why it was a waste and unnecessary. Furthermore, unless you sign your real, verifiable name to your claim why should anybody believe you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cupkate Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I only have one bar in the middle of downtown. The signal from the holiday inn is much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I only have one bar in the middle of downtown. The signal from the holiday inn is much better. Yeah, well get use to that because with only $60,000 spent on it when places like even Norwich are spending $200,000, the Binghamton system won't work well in most places. If you can get the Holiday Inn signal in about the same area covered by the Binghamton system again the question is why spend anything at all on the Binghamton system? It was completely unnecessary. The only purpose it will serve is that Ryan and Abdelazim will be able to say they did it, no matter how unnecessary and useless the idea was and how much money it loses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Yes it is up and they are testing it but you can still access it. Just wait though, with the free option no one will buy into the service and as bandwidth goes up so will cost and within a year it will be pay or nothing. Then ask yourself if you will pay just to come downtown to use the internet? Also many large cities with more people and resources are closing down their wifi's because they couldn't get enough subscribers to cover the cost. That will be the end result of this boondoggle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Yes it is up and they are testing it but you can still access it. Just wait though, with the free option no one will buy into the service and as bandwidth goes up so will cost and within a year it will be pay or nothing. Then ask yourself if you will pay just to come downtown to use the internet? Also many large cities with more people and resources are closing down their wifi's because they couldn't get enough subscribers to cover the cost. That will be the end result of this boondoggle I doubt they will ever get that many users. Few people live in the service area. Those that do probably do not have the necessary hardware. Visitors will use their hotel's wifi. It remains to be seen if it works in many restaurants. It is all a waste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I live in Hillcrest and have full bars with the city wireless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neighborhood Disassembly Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I think first they'll have to show us how this WiFi network works or do something to improve its signal strength. Maybe the key is clicking on one of the blank boxes like the OP said. Just for the heck of it, however, I drove over to the rooftop of the State Street parking ramp today (right across from the Greater Binghatmon Chamber's office) and tried to log on this afternoon/early evening. I did get on once, with speeds varying between 1.0Mbps to 24.0Mbps, but with only a "Low" or "Very Low" signal strength (which probably accounts for why the speeds showed so much variation). The way it works is that your browser gets directed to a log-in screen and, while that is loading, an ad is supposed to display (nothing came up, just a blank screen), and then you are alloted a 2-hour account as a "trial user". The network is "open" and thus not secure (hence the OP's concern), but if you have a firewall operational and connect to a SSL-secured site, your data is encrypted for transmission and neither the server nor the other computers logged onto the net can penetrate so long as your settings are proper (an individual responsibility, not the network administrator's problem -- we all have a duty to practice "safe computing"). After that, I tried to log on from a nearby building without success (signal strength too low, I presume). So, it would appear that the system isn't quite "ready for prime time" yet or the power hasn't been boosted up to full strength yet. (But, if this is "as good as it gets", I wouldn't subscribe or consider advertising). But, I'm hoping they'll get it going as it will be a definite plus for our area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Yeah, well get use to that because with only $60,000 spent on it when places like even Norwich are spending $200,000, the Binghamton system won't work well in most places. If you can get the Holiday Inn signal in about the same area covered by the Binghamton system again the question is why spend anything at all on the Binghamton system? It was completely unnecessary. The only purpose it will serve is that Ryan and Abdelazim will be able to say they did it, no matter how unnecessary and useless the idea was and how much money it loses. totally false- the signal offered by Plexicom is better than road runner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 ..in certainly locations, with only $60,000 spent when other places, like even Norwich, have spent $200,000 you can be sure there are too few antennas. Follow the mnety. This was a $60,000 , two-year gift to Plexicomm. See what Tarik or Matt Ryan get from it and you will know why it happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wizard Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 It should list "Binghamton wireless" as the source. Nope, that's NOT the same as "Binghamton WiFi", but there is a "connection". Binghamton Wireless is a division of Plexicomm, LLC, the same company contracted by the City to set-up and run the Binghamton WiFi network. (address: P.O. Box 2687, Binghamton, New York 13902-2687); website: www.binghamtonwireless.com Seems that Binghamton Wireless (operated as a division of Plexicomm, LLC) is A COMPETITOR of the Binghamton WiFi network. Binghamton Wireless boasts county-wide (and beyond) service on its website, so that can't be the City's "Binghatmon WiFi" wireless network which is only going to be available in parts of the downtown area. I even experienced having my browser re-directed to the Binghatmon Wireless website after logging on to the Binghatmon WiFi wireless network on one occasion today. So, what motivation does Plexicomm, LLC really have to do the best job possible for the City if it's trying to siphon off customers for its own competing wireless network? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 bait and switch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 yup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Nope, that's NOT the same as "Binghamton WiFi", but there is a "connection". Binghamton Wireless is a division of Plexicomm, LLC, the same company contracted by the City to set-up and run the Binghamton WiFi network. (address: P.O. Box 2687, Binghamton, New York 13902-2687); website: www.binghamtonwireless.com Seems that Binghamton Wireless (operated as a division of Plexicomm, LLC) is A COMPETITOR of the Binghamton WiFi network. Binghamton Wireless boasts county-wide (and beyond) service on its website, so that can't be the City's "Binghatmon WiFi" wireless network which is only going to be available in parts of the downtown area. I even experienced having my browser re-directed to the Binghatmon Wireless website after logging on to the Binghatmon WiFi wireless network on one occasion today. So, what motivation does Plexicomm, LLC really have to do the best job possible for the City if it's trying to siphon off customers for its own competing wireless network? No bid. Bait and switch. Where's the due diligence? Looks like another letter to the AG, after contacting those companies not advised of the bid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 No bid. Bait and switch. Where's the due diligence? Looks like another letter to the AG, after contacting those companies not advised of the bid. The general public who don't read BCVoice have no idea what is going on!!! Before the internet Matt Ryan and his cohorts could get away with this kind of stuff - No bid contracts, Spending Tax payer Money on questionable projects, etc. But thanks to BCVoice the truth will come out and people will be watching and posting!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Binghamton Municipal Wireless in a nutshell 1. The City matched a $29,000 grant with its own taxpayer money to obtain it. It was not free. It cost $58,00 in tax dollars. 2. The City of Binghamton awarded the installation contract to Plexicomm without a bid. 3. Plexicomm runs its own wifi system with almost the same name as the municipal system. The new system automatically re-directs users to the website of "Binghamton Wireless" (www.binghamtonwireless.com) private site immediately after appearing to have been logged back onto the "Binghamton WiFi" public wireless network as a "trial user". 4. Norwich, NY spent $200,000 on their system. Dallas spent well over $700,000, which was donated by Cisco Corporation. At $58,000 Binghamton’s system is too cheap to work well but still big enough to be a considerable waste of money. This is much like the $35,000 Matt Ryan spent on the Justin Woods study he threw out before making it public in 2006. 5. The Binghamton system will cost a minimum of $36,000 per year to operate. 6. From The Press & Sun-Bulletin: "It's a very fiscally responsible way to provide Wi-Fi to downtown," said Abdelazim. The city would collect the subscription fees, which would offset the annual $36,000 fee for maintaining the network. Abdelazim estimated the fees would cover about half the maintenance cost at first. "Is it worth $15,000 to get Wi-Fi?" he added. "Absolutely." His math is wrong, half of $36,000 is $18,000. That loss was with user fees. How much will it lose without user fees? Like the City taking a low bid on the Regency Hotel and giving large increases to Teamsters, Civil Servants and Firefighters, once again Abdelazim is not concerned about Taxpayers’ money. There is no way to provide a “fiscally responsible” muni wifi system which is why they are failing or being stopped around the country. (see references below). Try to find one example in the United States. 7. Tarik Abdelazim told reporters the system was about “justice and equality” without explaining how anyone without the proper technology could use it or what that means. 8. There is no possibility of it lasting past the two-year grant. 9. The area of service is very, small, only a few blocks downtown OUTSIDE and a small strip along Conklin Avenue. 10. Municipal wifi across the country has failed everywhere except where tied to a public security system. Binghamton’s is not tied to a public security system and never will be. Police and firefighters have their own. i. Municipal Wi-Fi Networks Run Into Financial, Technical Trouble Wednesday, May 23, 2007 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274728,00.html ii. More Municipal Wireless Problems WiFiNetNews says a purchase of the Tempe Arizona municipal network may be off. Other bad news; Citywide Wi-Fi is dead in Yuma, reports the Yuma Sun. Kite Networks, has stalled the project indefinitely. iii. Cities Scrap Municipal Wireless Plans Written By: Steven Titch Published In: Info Tech & Telecom News Publication Date: September 1, 2007 Publisher: The Heartland Institute http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=21874 iv. Where's My Free Wi-Fi? Why municipal wireless networks have been such a flop. By Tim Wu Posted Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, at 12:53 PM ET http://www.slate.com/id/2174858/pagenum/all/ v. EarthLink hangs "for sale" sign on municipal WiFi business By Eric Bangeman | Published: February 09, 2008 - 10:02PM CT EarthLink announced its fourth quarter earnings late last week, and it wasn't pretty. After six straight quarters of losses, the ISP has decided to exit the municipal WiFi sector and will actively look for someone to buy the business. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080...i-business.html vi. New Orleans to take city-wide WiFi network offline http://www.dailywireless.org/2008/01/09/mo...eless-problems/ By Eric Bangeman | Published: October 23, 2006 - 11:22AM CT In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans came up with a plan to help get its communications infrastructure back up and running: a free, city-wide WiFi network. Built with equipment donated by Intel, Tropos Networks, and Pronto Networks, the Crescent City's municipal WiFi network will soon be going dark. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061023-8052.html?rel vii. Features10 Reasons Your City Should Skip Municipal Wireless There are real reasons for the cool down in municipal wifi. http://www.dailywireless.com/features/ten-...ni-wifi-101007/ 11. Binghamton’s system will not work inside without repeaters. 12. The City of Binghamton will sell repeaters to the public for $200 and a $10 month fee. Businesses and individuals could go wireless on their own for about the same price or less and never pay an additional fee over their own ISP’s and control their own system. 13. The City of Binghamton will be colluding with Plexicomm to compete against all other local, state and national companies using NYS and Binghamton tax dollars. 14. The City of Binghamton system will not have any monitoring or accountability of users. It will give anonymous access to anyone interested in using it for criminal activities. 15. Anyone that voluntarily choose to log on will probably have their information added to a database that will find it way to Citizen Action as did the Neighborhood Assembly attendance names, addresses, telephone numbers and emails. 16. The system is completely unnecessary because many places already have their own private systems people can use, such a the Holiday Inn Arena. Restaurants and bars along State Street could have wired the Parlor City Commons on their own for about $500 or $600 total or $100 dollars each for the five or six places there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Hi! Can someone tell me the name of the SSID for the Binghamton wifi? I have a number of connections and am not sure which one is the right one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 No bid. Bait and switch. Where's the due diligence? Looks like another letter to the AG, after contacting those companies not advised of the bid. I think that there should be investigations!! heads will roll!! jobs will be lost!! arrests will be made!!!! people will be jailed!!!! I am not crazyyyyy!!! I AM NOT CRAZY!!!!! I AM NOT CRAAAAAZZZZYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 So, it looks like at least WBNG took up my suggestion and rather than buying into the bovine feces Matt Ryan and Tarik Abdelazim shovel out, WBNG tested the new Binghamton muni wifi network for themselves. As I have been telling you all along, WBNG told us the signal will not work inside most buildings without additional hardware hardware ($200 up front & $10 per month). So much for “equality and justice, huh, Tarik! Funny how reality doesn’t live up to your hype…. Also, as expected, the signal doesn't cover even much of downtown. Let's see, where is one of the first places you will want to go sit in the sunshine this spring and maybe grab an Italian sausage from the hot dog cart? At the Metrocenter Courtyard, right, just outside the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce offices? Well, according to WBNG the Binghamton wifi signal did not work there!!! I guess a little tweaking is in order. I wonder how long Plexicomm will tweak once they have run through the $58,000 grant and stop getting paid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 I can't wait for those sausages again? Do you think the hot dog vendor will put a repeater on his cart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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