The Los Gatos Opera House
A Wireless Instant Network Makes this the Hottest Ticket in Town
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It started with the Los Gatos Opera House and a desire to attract businesspeople for conferences, meetings, and events. The Chamber of Commerce was also interested in attracting visitors to the quaint town of Los Gatos. Only one thing was lacking - Internet access for business visitors.
Running wires through old pressed tin walls and ceilings in the Opera House was not an option. A Wireless Instant Network was the only feasible solution and as a result, Los Gatos became the premier example of what happens when a town partners with private business to deliver free public Wi-Fi Internet access.
A Full Metal Jacket, As it Were
Built in the early 1900s for opera and musical performances, the historic Opera House has been leased by the nearby Toll House Hotel and primarily used for weekend wedding receptions, bar mitzvahs, and social gatherings. While weekends were booked, the space usually was underutilized during the week. Why not use it to host business meetings, events, and seminars?
"Los Gatos is a perfect place for hosting corporate off-site meetings and events," said Hotel General Manager, Marie Tallman. "Silicon Valley companies frequently seek out interesting venues, but to compete with other hotels, we had to provide Internet access." One DSL line was already installed in the first-floor catering office. The first floor is also home to the Opera House business office and a number of retail antique shops. Extending access up to the second floor ballroom, bar, and balcony areas was going to be tough. Running wires up through the walls and floors of a historic building was invasive and extremely expensive. In addition, walls and ceilings of the main venue, the ballroom, are lined in ornate pressed tin. Even if a typical wireless network could be wired to provide coverage here, it would experience high levels of interference, making access unreliable. There had to be another way.
Talk in the Town
Meanwhile, the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce and City Council had been considering deploying a public Wi-Fi network throughout Los Gatos. The public network would also cover the city park, which is located kitty-cornered across the street from the Opera House.
"We were looking for ways to promote Los Gatos as a destination," said Ronee Nassi, Executive Director of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce. "We wanted to not only bring more business traffic to town, but also to show off Los Gatos as a wonderful place to shop, dine, meet friends, and live. It's a quaint, charming town but also very much a part of our high-tech world. Public Wi-Fi access is an innovative way to meet visitors' and residents' needs alike."
They proposed a Wireless Instant Network based on HotPoint wireless mesh routers to deliver the required wireless access at the Opera House as well as provide free public Internet access in the adjacent shops and park. With approval from the Opera House owner, work began. In an hour and a half, the network was up and running.
A Closet. A Bus Stop. A Network.
The
first HotPoint router was plugged into a regular outlet in a closet on the
first floor of the Opera House, along with existing telephone and DSL
connections. A second HotPoint router was installed in the rafters under the
third floor roof. Two cables run to roof antennas through the HVAC ports and two
standard antennas are mounted on the electrical box next to a skylight. The
signal comes down through the glass of the skylight into the ballroom, all the
way down to the first floor closet.
Two additional HotPoint routers are connected via Ethernet cable with two Cisco access points and mounted in a closet underneath the second-floor stairs leading to the Opera House balcony. This provides round-the-clock access and conducts a great signal to both roof and downstairs units, creating a mesh network.
With the wireless mesh network established at the Opera House, one more HotPoint unit and Cisco access point were installed under the eaves in a bus shelter, located across the street in the park. Because the Instant Network self configures upon being plugged in, the HotPoint routers can plug into any already-existing outlet. The bus shelter HotPoint router was covered with a grate for protection and ventilation and provides a clear line-of-sight path to units on the Opera House roof. Now the park and first-floor retail shops share the Opera House's DSL connection with no wiring at all.
The Beginning of a Public-Private Partnership
"This is one of the first times that private industry has provided free public access," said Wayne Levenfeld, President of Pacific Valley Investors, owners of the Toll House Hotel. "It's great for our business, it's great for Los Gatos, and as other organizations contribute a DSL connection and participate, the network just becomes stronger and more redundant."
The Opera House business and catering offices now use the network for all of their Internet access needs as can the retailers on the Opera House's first floor. The Opera House's tin lining, which seemed to be a challenge at first, actually magnifies and strengthens the signal. It carries it from the skylight, runs it down the walls, bounces the signal all over the ballroom, and carries it down to the first floor.
"This project delivers high-tech benefits to a charming, historic town," said Nassi. "Wireless access creates a compelling draw for attracting business meetings and events to a place that offers much more ambiance than the typical large-hotel atmosphere."
HotPoint routers are quickly becoming the hottest tickets in town. It's expected that many other Los Gatos businesses will soon join the Wireless Instant Network. And as they do, they may well create the first "wireless town" anywhere.