Honolulu climbs on WiFi list

[urbanguy]

Honolulu climbs on WiFi list

Honolulu ranked 13th among 100 metropolitan areas for wireless Internet accessibility, according to a survey released today by electronics giant Intel Corp.

That was up 19 spots from last year's "Most Unwired Cities" survey, which compares a city's population to the number of so-called WiFi "hot spots," or wireless Internet access points.

This year's ranking placed Honolulu above major metro areas such as Atlanta, Boston and Los Angeles. The top WiFi metro area included San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.

The survey, which included college campuses, also ranked the University of Hawai'i-Manoa as the 37th most unwired college campus, ahead of institutions such as Stanford and Harvard. Indiana University in Bloomington received top honors.

WiFi technology allows computers to connect to each other and the Internet wirelessly at ranges up to about 300 feet outdoors. As prices for the technology fall and the types of mobile computing devices rise, more people are plugging into the Internet wirelessly, said Bert Sperling, who conducted the survey.

"WiFi is going to be the next big thing in the same way the Internet was once the personal computer was introduced," said Sperling, who also compiles Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live" list.

There were an estimated 22.7 million WiFi-standard wireless Internet devices sold last year, compared with 7.2 million in 2002, according to industry researcher In-STAT/MDR.

The devices are showing up in a variety of Hawai'i locations, ranging from Honolulu International Airport to a Dunkin Donuts outlet in Waikiki. The technology also has gotten a boost from Gov. Linda Lingle, who envisions creating a "Wireless Waikiki," where visitors in the resort area could access the Internet without cables.

However, wireless Internet access isn't normally free and can cost about $10 a day at some commercial locations, although lower rates are possible with long-term service agreements.

Then there are smaller mom-and-pop operations that offer the service to customers for free, Sperling said.

"Because they can buy it so cheap, they can offer it for free, intending to get more business from it," he said.

Alrighty fellahs here's the full list for 2004:

Across the United States and around the world, more and more people are wirelessly accessing the Internet to communicate and share and enjoy information and entertainment.

Intel's 2nd annual "Most Unwired Cities" survey ranks the top 100 U.S. cities and regions for the greatest wireless Internet accessibility. The survey reveals an increasing number of hotspot locations across the country where people can use wireless-enabled notebook PCs to access wireless fidelity networks (Wi-Fi) without a traditional wired connection. Today, hotspots can be found in airports, public parks, college campuses and hotels -- as well as in diverse locations such as truck stops, RV parks and malls.

Below is a look at the top cities and regions in America where it's possible to sit back, relax and unwire:

1 San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland, Calif.

2 Orange County, Calif.

3 Washington, D.C.

4 Austin-San Marcos, Texas

5 Portland, Ore/Vancouver, Wash.

6 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett-Tacoma, Wash.

7 Bergen-Passaic, N.J.

8 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, N.J.

9 San Diego

10 Denver

=========================

11 Chicago

12 Sacramento, Calif.

13 Honolulu up 19 spots from last year!

14 Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, Calif.

15 Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.

16 Atlanta

17 Boston

18 Ventura, Calif.

19 Monmouth-Ocean, N.J.

20 Colorado Springs, Colo.

21 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas

22 New Haven-Meriden, Conn.

23 Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.

24 New York City-Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y. - Newark, N.J.

25 Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah

26 Houston, Texas

27 Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.

28 Detroit

29 West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.

30 Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.

31 Baltimore

32 Hartford, Conn.

33 Philadelphia

34 Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, Va.

35 Wilmington, Del. - Newark, Md.

36 Columbus, Ohio

37 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

38 Omaha, Neb./Iowa

39 Orlando, Fla.

40 Ann Arbor, Mich.

41 Las Vegas

42 Kansas City, Mo./Kan.

43 Richmond-Petersburg, Va.

44 Albuquerque, N.M.

45 Jacksonville, Fla.

46 Indianapolis

47 Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis.

48 Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.

49 San Antonio

50 St. Louis

51 Rochester, N.Y.

52 Cincinnati

53 Memphis, Tenn.

54 Pittsburgh

55 Providence, R.I., Fall River-Warwick, Mass.

56 Charleston-North Charleston, S.C.

57 Charlotte-Gastonia, N.C., Rock Hill, S.C.

58 Tucson, Ariz.

59 Akron, Ohio

60 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.

61 Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio

62 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

63 Louisville, Ky/Ind.

64 Toledo, Ohio

65 Dayton-Springfield, Ohio

66 Stockton-Lodi, Calif.

67 Wichita, Kan.

68 Nashville, Tenn.

69 New Orleans

70 Worcester, Mass.

71 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.

72 Springfield, Mass.

73 Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Fla.

74 Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Mich.

75 Jersey City, N.J.

76 Fresno, Calif.

77 Gary, Ind.

78 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Pa.

79 Columbia, S.C.

80 Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, Pa.

81 Birmingham, Ala.

82 Oklahoma City, Okla.

83 El Paso, Texas

84 Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

85 Syracuse, N.Y.

86 Baton Rouge, La.

87 Bakersfield, Calif.

88 Fort Wayne, Ind.

89 Tulsa, Okla.

90 Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, N.C.

91 Little Rock-North Little Rock, Ark.

92 Augusta, Ga. - Aiken, S.C.

93 Knoxville, Tenn.

94 Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C.

95 Mobile, Ala.

96 Daytona Beach, Fla.

97 Youngstown-Warren, Ohio

98 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, Pa.

99 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas

100 Johnson City-Kingsport, Tenn. - Bristol, Va.

The survey was sponsored by Intel Corporation and conducted by Bert Sperling, a researcher who specializes in collecting and analyzing data for the nationally known "Best Places" surveys.

Study findings are based on the number of public and commercial wireless access points (hotspots), local wireless networks, wireless email devices, and Internet penetration. The data was also calculated at the per-capita level to determine how many people share hotspots within a given city or region. The data was collected from a variety of industry sources and weighted across a 100-point scale.

Source: http://www.intel.com/products/mobiletechno...wiredcities.htm

[Guest donaltopablo]

Atlanta came on the list a little lower than I might have expected, but it seems it's still top in the SE.

[Allan]

Detroit is 28th. We may climb up on the list through, as all of downtown, as well as other portions of the city, will be covered by Wi-Fi by the end of the year. I guess time will tell....

[urbanguy]

^Detroit climbed up like 20 spots or so over last year and Honolulu climbed up 19 so those are big improvements while Portland, OR last years #1 dropped a few notches