The Cloud Blanket the Square Mile with a WiFi Mesh

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The best and worst thing that could happen to WiFi in the UK. It’s a great achievement setting up a large scale wireless mesh. We should know! Hats off to The Cloud for embarking on such a project.

An odd choice of location for such a wireless network however. Or was it? One of the biggest problems with the outdoor mesh networks is the coverage inside. Without a CPE device, such as a PepLink (www.peplink.com) there is little or no coverage from a mesh inside. A little known fact The Cloud aren’t shouting about right now.

Everyone we’ve spoken to has said great! I can use my laptop inside. London isn’t famous for its weather, so who’s going to sit outside with their Wireless Laptop? The Square Mile is filled with offices with barely any permanent residents - not too many people around to try and get on-line in the comfort of their home only to find the signal’s too weak…

This brings me to my next point. Preserving corporate information is key these days and loss of data can bring a firm to their knees in days. How are the huge multinationals going to prevent their carefully vetted employees from beaming all their confidential material over the Wireless Mesh?

The best thing however, is that it kicks things off nicely. The Cloud have also made the right decision by charging for access. You’ll find hundreds of campaigners for Free WiFi, but what baffles me is why should there be free WiF?

We’re watching closely to see how the Mesh Network is going to be used. We’ll keep you up-to-date.

Simon Morley @ May 16, 2007