Wireless Walker in Times Square

(NB: you can see the whole set of photos at my web site.) I started out by taking the ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan.  This was a late Saturday, so the riders were a mix of tourists and locals. During the rush hours, it's packed with commuters. (It might be worth considering a hot spot for the ferry.) It's a short walk westward from the ferry terminal to Battery Park. (On the left you can see the trees of Battery Park). I couldn't come up with a signal in the park, right at the water's edge. It's a very scenic location with a good view of the Statue of Liberty. Later, after I was able to access Verizon's hot spot map. I was able to tap into a strong signal right at the NE corner of the park. This is located at the Bankruptcy Court Building, and just south of the Merrill Lynch bull statue. I then hopped on the subway to head uptown to 42nd Street.

Bryant Park (the trees and the kiosk), of course, represents the origin of wireless access in NYC. But, right across the street is the Verizon store and their access point. There's a bank of Verizon pay phones right there on the corner, with a side panel talking about how this was a hot spot, however, I couldn't pick a strong signal, maybe 150 Kbps maximum. Even though, I was still able to log on and maintain a connection.

I walked down 42nd Street towards Times Square to set up for the photo of my laptop against the lights, commotion and tourists looking for places to eat. I couldn't make a connection until I reached 45th Street, at which point I started picking the signal from the Cometa network spreading from the McDonald's across 7th Avenue. My plan was to drop in, get something to eat, and use the card with the login code to allow me access outdoors, and take my photo. Sitting in McD's at a table on the 2nd floor with a nice view of the street, I happened to pick up the Verizon signal.(!) Once I logged in with my DSL ID and password, I found out that this connection was just over 500 Kbps. Even though I could spy a bank of Verizon pay phones down below on the sidewalk, the online hot spot map showed that the access point I was using was just one block up on 47th street.

When I was finished with my meal, I went up to the address listed on the map 170 W. 47th St. There was nothing there I could see, no pay phones, just a fire escape climbing up the side of a brick wall. What I was trying to do to find the actual pay phone stations that served as the access point. I wasn't able to do this.

You have to realize that the trick for getting this photo was balancing the various factors involved: ambient light, switching the power up on the laptop right before I took the shot, the battery on the laptop, the battery in the digital camera, logging on to the Verizon service, holding the laptop up in one hand, trying to hold the camera still enough in the other hand, and answering the occasionally, "What are doing?" from the passing crowd. Actually, everyone there was considerate. I wish I had a table so I could have set down my laptop and talked to more people about wi-fi.

While I was doing my thing, I would overhear the people passing by, and a significant amount of conversation revolved around where do we eat? Some enterprising restaurant or tourist agency will eventually provide free access that these visitors will tap into using a wi-fi enabled handheld. Another thought is idea of mobile blogging. You could snap some digital photos, type out some impressions and upload this to your blog.

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