Residents seem interested, but funding issue looms as challenge
Stop by the Dunn Bros. coffee shop in downtown Excelsior and you’re bound to find someone silently working over a laptop computer in the corner.
Chances are high, the laptop user is working online. That’s because Dunn Bros. is a wi-fi hotspot. In other words, an invisible network pulses through the air of the bustling café, allowing any customer with a properly-equipped laptop to connect to the Internet.
In recent years, wireless Internet systems have given new meaning to the words “work outside the home.” Wireless systems have given Internet users the freedom to work in airport lounges, living rooms, and yes, coffee shops.
But what if you wanted to hop on a boat, float Lake Minnetonka’s bays and tap into the Internet? Could you work online on the water?
If the Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission (LMCC) has its way, we might be able to do just that.
The LMCC represents 17 area communities. The agency oversees agreements with the local cable company, Mediacom, and promotes the awareness and use of community television.
Recently, however, the LMCC has been working to bring community-wide wireless Internet service to the area.
In the past few years, several of the nation’s largest cities have invested in community-wide wireless Internet systems. Philadelphia made headlines when it installed the system. Closer to home, Minneapolis and St. Louis Park have each begun pilot programs in select neighborhoods.
Communities nation-wide are investing in wireless Internet for a number of reasons, said Sally Koenecke, the LMCC’s executive director.
Police officers, she said, use community-wide wireless systems to access their network from anywhere in the city.
For example, an officer responding to a domestic disturbance can access the
