As noted earlier this week, ePath Communications seems to be stalled in its mission to provide Long Island with a Wi-Fi network. This fact has drawn some pretty strong opinions in the ongoing debate about how to build an effective citywide wireless network. The NY Times ran an opinion piece which says that this is a case of “you get what you pay for”; since the network was free to taxpayers they should expect the problems that have occurred. MuniWireless disagrees saying that the need to use or not use public funding depends on many different factors related to a Wi-Fi network and is not such a cut-and-dry issue. What most parties seem to agree with is that building out a big network requires the assistance of experienced providers. Across the country in the twin cities, Bel-Air Networks seems to be doing well with a large-scale network that many are dubbing “successful”.