Free Wi-Fi comes to Ithaca Commons

Downtown Ithaca is now offering free Wi-Fi in areas on and around The Commons, an advancement made possible by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA) and Skypackets, a wireless internet service provider out of New York City. As DIA staff explained, the project has been a long time coming.

As explained in a recent press release, locals and visitors can log into the network while outside on The Commons. Just go to your Wi-Fi settings in your device, locate “Downtown Ithaca Free WiFi” and click “connect.” You’ll then receive a prompt to provide some information and be asked to accept the terms and conditions. After that, you’re all set.

This Wi-Fi site plan places access points on various structures like light poles and buildings on and around The Commons. These points are no more than 275 feet apart, according to the release, “resulting in a reliable 5GHz signal strength of -65 decibel milliwatts or better throughout the entire area.”

DIA Executive Director Gary Ferguson explained that DIA staff have long been trying to bring free Wi-Fi downtown.

“The goal has always been … trying to provide a service for our patrons and our visitors, whether they be local or whether they be from out of town,” he said. “Secondly, this is an opportunity to provide Wi-Fi service to people who may not have access to it in the community, and this would be an opportunity, a place where people can come where they can get that kind of access and not worry about a bill.”

Ferguson added that downtown is “one of the places in the community where we try to be receptive and hospitable and accommodating to a lot of our emerging tech businesses.”

“And so, we want to make sure the infrastructure is in place, not just with hardwired Wi-Fi, but just have that [space] where people can have meetings on the fly, they can talk outside, they can meet,” he said. “This is just part of having the infrastructure in place to be a really good place to do work.”

As far as why it took this many years to finally turn idea into reality, Ferguson explained that there are a lot of “different hurdles” staff had to jump through.

“We had to find buildings to be able to put this on, and we had to be able to be able to physically locate the hardware,” he said. “All these things seem so simplistic — all we do is press a button on our phone, [and] we get our Wi-Fi. But what goes into that on the front on the back end, oh my God, I don’t even want to think about it. It’s incredible how much effort so much work goes on. It gives me a new appreciation for every time I turn on my phone, what people must have to do to make sure that that works for me.”

Despite the challenges involved in bringing the project to fruition, the DIA felt it was an important project to see through.

“It really provides a service, and almost an expected service, for our patrons, for our visitors, for our community,” Ferguson said. “And so, we’re glad to be able to do it, and we’re hopeful that more and more people will take advantage of it and, as they learn about it, will be that much more engaged with it.”

Since the service only launched last week, it’s unsurprising that feedback on it so far has been minimal. However, with the Ithaca Festival being last weekend, the Wi-Fi network likely saw some use, Ferguson said. As the weeks go on, DIA staff will conduct additional research into usership and discuss any needed improvements, he said.

Looking further out, Ferguson said the DIA would love to expand the free Wi-Fi service throughout downtown.

“Right now, it’s in The Commons area and in the areas right around The Commons,” he said. “I know, in our DRI [Downtown Revitalization Initiative] application, we had talked about doing a downtown-wide [service], and we would need more financial support to help make that happen. So, … with more financial support, we could certainly go broader and do more. Some cities have done that. So, I’m aware of several cities that really have made this a pillar of sort of what they do. But we’re taking step one.”

For now, residents and visitors alike are encouraged to enjoy the free Wi-Fi now available on The Commons. DIA Communications and Grants Manager Darlene Wilber clarified that the service is only available outdoors. The signal will be strongest on The Commons, but the service does reach to Seneca Street and to some areas outside The Commons.

For more information about this new service, visit downtownithaca.com/communitywifi.

Jessica Wickham is the managing editor of Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to them at editorial@VizellaMedia.com.