MILPITAS Calif. (DNR) – The city of Milpitas has begun to upgrade their free WiFi Internet service. City officials say the current system has “begun to strain” under the increased load.
Last month Milpitas began to upgrade their fiber-optic cabling. They divided the city into 80 neighborhood clusters with four fiber connected Base Stations. The new expansion project will allow for future expansion but should be able to handle expected loads for the next four or five years.
City officials tell Digital News Report that the first upgrade was to the neighborhoods surrounding the Milpitas Fire Station #4 at 775 Barber Lane (near Tasman Dr).
Currently the system allows for a 240 megabits per second (Mbps) throughput, but the new structure will handle 1500 Mbps. That is more than one gigabyte per second.
The project, which was launched two years ago, has been partially funded by Google. Eventually users will need a Google account to access the Internet with this service. The city calls the project a non-profit partnership between the City of Milpitas and Silicon Valley Unwired.
By; Greg Cook
Local Assistant Editor