Hermosa Beach municipal network

Hermosa Beach city councilman Michael Keegan has spearheaded a municipal network that will eventually bring free WiFi coverage to the entire city. The first phase covers roughly 35% of the city. These photos were taken during initial testing of the equipment.

The central network node is on top of the fire station tower. The backhaul is over 6 mbps wireless links from the fire station to Hawthorne, then to Torrance, then to Long Beach. From Long Beach, there is a fiber link to One Wilshire.

There is good visibility in all directions from the fire station tower.

This is the view from one of the mesh nodes back to the fire station.

The antenna covers three 120 degree sectors. It can send and receive 802.11 A, B and G signals.

Antenna towers, rooftop rent, mechanical mounting, waterproofing and other mundane matters can be more important and costly than the radios and antennae. In this temporary trial, the antenna is mounted on a tripod which is held steady by sandbags. Note that we also have to bring power to the radios.

The antenna was tested by walking around the city with a laptop.
The testers kept in touch using cell phones.

This maps shows rough coverage area (red dashed line) using a standard PC card in a laptop. The coverage was better (black dashed line) when the laptop used a small, high-gain directional antenna. This diagram was produced by Eric Black of LA Unplugged who designed and installed the network.

Data transfer rates and user statistics are available at this location.

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The central network node is on top of the fire station tower. The backhaul is over 6 mbps wireless links from the fire station to Hawthorne, then to Torrance, then to Long Beach. From Long Beach, there is a fiber link to One Wilshire.
There is good visibility in all directions from the fire station tower.
This is the view from one of the mesh nodes back to the fire station.
The antenna covers three 120 degree sectors. It can send and receive 802.11 A, B and G signals.
Antenna towers, rooftop rent, mechanical mounting, waterproofing and other mundane matters can be more important and costly than the radios and antennae. In this temporary trial, the antenna is mounted on a tripod which is held steady by sandbags. Note that we also have to bring power to the radios.
The antenna was tested by walking around the city with a laptop.
The testers kept in touch using cell phones.
This maps shows rough coverage area (red dashed line) using a standard PC card in a laptop. The coverage was better (black dashed line) when the laptop used a small, high-gain directional antenna. This diagram was produced by Eric Black of LA Unplugged who designed and installed the network.
Data transfer rates and user statistics are available at this location.