NetStumbler.com

Google has blanketed Mountain View, Calfornia, the place it calls home, with WiFi using a mesh of nodes placed on the city’s lamp posts. A test of the network — access to which is not available to the public yet — showed that reliability, speed and ease of use do not match up with cellular or home Internet connections. Google claimed that the network can provide a speed of up to 1Mbps or less than half a fast DSL connection of 2.5Mbps and such would depend on how far the user is from the node. Signal inside homes is also very weak, which can be addressed by using an extra piece of signal-boosting hardware. There is also a lag in communication when calls are made using VoIP applications such as Skype.
Via [news.bbc.co.uk]

Anvil Technologies performed a demonstration of its Wi-Fi-supported emergency communications system at the Aldwych subway station in central London. The event took place a year after the London subway bombings, to which the response was considered generally efficient except for the difficulty of communication among the first responder groups. The Canadian wireless systems integrator worked with U.K. satellite services company Primetech to set up a network at the station, which took no longer than 10 minutes. The RECoN, according to Anvil, is designed to provide a framework that will allow for integration of various products. For the demonstration, the network used wireless equipment from Rajant Corp. and Trilogy Communications, streaming video technology from Mobile Data Exchange (MDEX), and document management from Mindoka. Anvil revealed that police and intelligence organizations in the U.S. and Canada already purchased the system.
Via [wi-fiplanet.com]