Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services
Bye Bye Free Toronto Wifi
Working from anywhere in downtown Toronto was great for many wireless workers for the past nine months. There was no need to walk aimlessly looking for an open wireless signal, now that time has sadly come to an end. It was so easy to connect to one of Toronto Hydro Telecom's free OneZone urban Wifi network signals in the six square kilometer area that it covers. The area, centered on the cities financial district and spreading out over City Hall and the University, is now only accessible to paying customers.40,000 users test drove the new Wifi service during the extended free trial offer, with the highest usage times tracked between 2pm and 5pm Monday to Friday. Starting on April 24th, users of the Wifi signal are required to pay either $4.99/hr, $9.99/day, or $29/month for access.
Is 10 bucks a day CDN too much or just right? Would you prefer a free service that is sponsored by ads or a sponsored login page?
If you are looking for free wireless points in Toronto, check out http://wirelesstoronto.ca/
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
k.r said 9:37AM on 4-25-2007
Who doesn't want free wifi? I know I'll definatly wont be paying out $10 for a day worth of access. I wish I tried this out while it was still free but my cellphone is so ancient I couldn't get the cellphone code.....
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Chris Gilmer said 9:38AM on 4-25-2007
...and lets not even talk about the rates at Starbucks for wifi! Its not their fault though, its the providers.
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sendmeanemail said 10:30AM on 4-25-2007
I tried the service many times and thought it was very slow.
I understand their objective is to have the broadest coverage, however they still need to maintain a satisfactory level of service. Unfortunately this is not the case.
The pricing will cost them their entire investment, just as pricing killed the Iridium satellite phone concept in the late 90's. Why would anyone want to pay that kind of money when an extra 2-3 minutes of walking in downtown TO will net you some sucker with unprotected WiFi.
I will give them credit for jump-starting something that should have been done years ago. But they need to work on the service standards and pricing.
Do I think ads will work? Absolutely! If you ever have a chance to hang around the Forest Hill Village (Spadina Avenue and Lonsdale Road) you'll notice there is ad supported WiFi. Just like OneZone you get a code by cellphone SMS and logon. It's been up and running for years! Covers a good 3-4 blocks and is always speedy.
Toronto Hydro, wake up! If you're going to try and sell a "new" service to the city, be innovative instead of following in the poor (read: failing) footsteps of Rogers/Bell/Fido/Telus and their "HotSpot" service at Starbucks.
And lastly (sorry for the long post), why would anyone consider $29.99 for sub-par service!? Rogers and Bell both offer "portable" internet for similar cost but at considerably better speeds.
The service is still in its infancy. Let's see if anything changes throughout the course of the summer.
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Chris Gilmer said 10:31AM on 4-25-2007
Great points sendmeanemail!
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Mark said 10:41AM on 4-25-2007
10 bones a day is much too high. There are plenty of places, at least in the Cleveland area, that offer free service.
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Mark said 11:34AM on 4-25-2007
You have to look at two things.
1. Now that it isn't free and public, the wifi speeds will most likely increase. Arguments about slow speeds are valid, but I'd like to see data on the speeds before/after the free trial period
2. You're all saying $10/day is too much, but you neglect to realize that you could sign up for $30/month, which is $1/day. If you were a heavy enough user in that area, I believe it's not an unreasonable amount to pay.
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Tush said 11:45AM on 4-25-2007
Community-based wireless is the way to go. Then you wouldn't have to be stuck with a commercial telecommunications providor. Folks in Seattle did it, so can Toronto.
Participitory communication FTW!
http://www.seattlewireless.net/
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sennawcf1 said 1:48PM on 4-25-2007
I used the service once in while and it was poor. Complicated (enough) login/signup process. Ar ethere enough paying users ??? I highly doubt it. A total waste of money. I prefer to use EvDO coverage which I can get all over the city.
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Andrew Schrock said 1:54PM on 4-25-2007
Mark - Who would sign up for a service that was slow in the trial stages? The expectation would be that it would always be slow. I don't think people will give it the benefit of the doubt as you do.
$1/day is a reasonable price, but that's more than I'm paying for a cable connection at my house. It seems a bit pricey for what is essentially a factor of convenience, not necessity.
I would rather spend that money at my local coffee shop, which has free wifi. And also comfy couches.
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Draco said 4:26PM on 4-25-2007
Or more people could sign up for FON and share their current Wi-Fi. Wouldn't that be better for ALL concerned?
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