said by bmn :

Solution is five letters... IPSEC. (or three if you prefer VPN)

said by pnh102 :

What about reliability? I would figure in an emergency having connectivity at all takes precedence above security. It would be entirely unacceptable if an ambulance or fire truck turns a corner around a building and loses signal.

Then again, how do emergency services deal with the issue of being connected to "the main office" currently? Is that solution currently acceptable and if it is, why reinvent the wheel?

said by bmn :

Its possible that they can sacrifice speed for range since they aren't using OTS components, but systems designed for this type of situation.

said by bmn :

They are connected the same way that other cities are connected, via some sort of packet radio or cellular network. The problem with those older systems is that they are very slow and scale very poorly.

said by pnh102 :

Philadelphia recently (about 10 years ago) put laptops connected via cell phone in police cars so that when an officer made a routine traffic stop (this was a result of the Eddie Pollock tragedy), he/she could pull up all the information on a vehicle and driver without having to use the police radio. The police radio was then able to be reserved for the highest priority problems.

Do they not have such a system in New Orleans?

said by OverModded :

All this is is the mayor of New Orleans pulling another stunt to try and get the voters minds off the fact that he screwed up big time before and after the hurricane. So much needs to be done to put N.O. back on its feet and he spends his time on this relatively minor effort.

said by BVT :

The majority of the blame lays on the shoulders of Nagin & the governor. There should have been a mandatory evac & they should have carted the so called "poor" people out. There is no excuse for leaving the old and infirmed people behind.

definition of "Poor": can afford the newest Nikes, hippest clothing, all the good drugs and all new cds released by rap artists but yet cannot buy food for the 7 children they produce, pay rent or get a job

said by BVT :

definition of "Poor": can afford the newest Nikes, hippest clothing, all the good drugs and all new cds released by rap artists but yet cannot buy food for the 7 children they produce, pay rent or get a job

said by OverModded :

All this is is the mayor of New Orleans pulling another stunt to try and get the voters minds off the fact that he screwed up big time before and after the hurricane. So much needs to be done to put N.O. back on its feet and he spends his time on this relatively minor effort.

said by Fatal Vector :

That New Orleans would have bigger fish to fry than worrying about such a scheme at a time like this, wouldn't you?

said by »bizneworleans.com/109+M5679f8e1803.html :

City to set up Wi-Fi network
NEW ORLEANS — City officials are planning to set up a wireless Internet, or Wi-Fi, network throughout New Orleans.

The plan is set to be unveiled at a Tuesday morning press conference next week.

Days after Hurricane Katrina struck, chipmaker Intel donated more than $150,000 in equipment to set up wireless nodes downtown and at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Intel worked with Tropos Networks, MCI and SkyTel to establish a network so that relief workers could communicate with each other to coordinate releief efforts. Intel donated 50 Tropos 802.11 Wi-Fi mesh transmitters, and Tropos donated another 25, said a source close to the deal.

The access points have been used to offer free Wi-Fi service to Federal Emergency Management Agency workers and local government workers. The network has been up and running for more than three weeks, and plans call for the network to be available for residents, said Mayor's Office spokeswoman Tami Frazier.

She did not know whether officials plan to charge for wireless access once the network is expanded.

By Keith Brannon
The Biz Network

said by pnh102 :

Am I missing something... or do you need to actually have a municipality first before you can have municipally-provided nanny-welfare-state Internet access?

What's next? A monorail?

said by Transmaster :

Oh perfect, and do you think then monorail he builds will be like the one Robert Crumb drew in his comics. I would get you this illustration but It is not something I would want to access from work.:D

said by BVT :

New Orleans is not a great city. It is a cesspool of human filth and corruption.

said by BVT :

Leave it to the Frech to start a city/outpost below sea level. Once again, we Americans need to clean their mess up.

said by bmn :

I'd recommend visiting cities like Philadelphia, Chicago or New York city if you want to see some serious corruption. Those cities are a lot big bigger and hence have WAY more corruption.

said by Iceblink8 :

I have YET to see any of the Bushco promises come to fruition.

said by pnh102 :

There are many other places in the USA which get hit by major natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes and wildfires in CA, major hurricanes in Florida, tornadoes in the Great Plains and Midwest) and those places didn't need massive Federal help to rebuild.

said by Iceblink8 :

I don't see anyone in MS getting all bothered about it but oh wait the governor of MS is a close personal friend of GWB and their ain't much to rebuild in MS.

said by Iceblink8 :

...and their ain't much to rebuild in MS.

said by pnh102 :

What's next? A monorail?

said by pnh102 :

Am I missing something... or do you need to actually have a municipality first before you can have municipally-provided nanny-welfare-state Internet access?

What's next? A monorail?

said by bmn :

And this certainly isn't "nanny-welfare-state"...

said by pnh102 :

I know we'll probably never agree on whether municipal broadband for city residents is acceptable or not. I'm against it just because I feel its not a necessity and its something that private citizens could provide for themselves if they chose to do it (e.g., pool their money and share the cost of a T1, etc.).

said by Fatal Vector :

And, after they spent all this money, all of it failed, including the municipal communication syatems for the police and fire, which didn't even have backup generators to keep the repeaters and other equipment on the air, which hampered rescue operations because all they had was short range simplex communications. And, even if it HAD stayed operational, it could not communicate with police, etc in the other neighboring Parrishes, nor with the state system.

You can be very sure that many people died, trapped like rats because of this and it just is a prime example of the pathetic lack of foresight displayed by Nagin and the city. Bottom line is they new that sooner or later they were going to get hit bad and seemingly did absolutely nothing about it.

said by CJ :

I am wondering who is paying for this whole thing?

said by CJ :

I am wondering who is paying for this whole thing? Are we the tax payers all paying for them to have wireless internet?