Different sort of free Wi-Fi starts to thrive

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that citywide wireless Internet access is slowly becoming a reality despite political infighting - and that 144,000 residents will be surfing the Web for free by the end of the year at no cost to the city. Standing on the rooftop of a Mission District single-room-occupancy hotel, Newsom pointed to a "repeater antenna" - which looks like an oversized, white computer mouse - and said the devices someday will blanket the city with free Wi-Fi. The devices are made by a South of Market company named Meraki, and hundreds now dot the rooftops and balconies of private residences, nonprofit hotels and public housing projects. Meraki is donating the devices plus free Internet access to any San Francisco resident who wants them. Neighbors within a block's radius of the device can tap into the Internet for free, too. Blanketing the city is expected to require 15,000 devices. The company, founded two years ago, is using San Francisco as a testing ground to bolster its name and reputation so it can sell more devices elsewhere.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/11/MN6N117KJU.D...