Surf the Net before you fly Passengers at Changi Airport with time to kill before boarding their flights now wirelessly surf the Net, for free.
Computer Times 30 Jan 2002 Changi Airport has been providing free wireless Internet surfing for passengers with their own notebook computers or compatible PDAs since March last year. This is in addition to wired network points that also provide network access. All the passengers need to do is to use their wireless modem card supporting the IEEE 802.11b standard, which will let them access the Internet through the airport's wireless LAN, which cost more than $74,000 to install. There are service counters - located in the Internet Centre in Terminal One and the E-hub in Terminal Two - which will loan them wireless LAN cards as well. Wireless coverage areas are currently located in the central departure transit lounge areas of both terminals. The E-hub service counter is located in Terminal Two of Changi Airport. Passengers use their wireless modem cards to access the Internet through the airport's wireless LAN. Increased coverage In the pipeline are plans to increase the wireless coverage in the terminals. Mr Loh Seow Yick, the assistant airport manager for airport systems, said the external broadband connection for each terminal is a 512 kbps (kilobits per second) leased line. The current network can support up to 50 concurrent wireless users before there is a noticeable slowdown in Internet access speed. But he added that the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has plans to increase the broadband connection bandwidth to 1 Mbps (megabits per second) by the middle of this year in anticipation of higher wireless demand. A recently unveiled enhancement, aimed at making it easier for passengers to use the wireless network, was the use of Tru'Connect hardware and software solutions from local network technology firm Antlabs. This "plug-and-play, zero-configuration" feature allows airport users to just plug in the network card and the back-end. Tru'Connect server will handle all software configurations. Ms Jemangin, public relations assistant manager, CAAS, says an average of 80 people use the airport's wireless LAN every day. Mr Aw Peng Soon, Antlabs' sales director, said: "There is no need for a passenger to configure or change the network settings. The network layer will adapt to the user's settings and device environment." Cabled and wireless Internet access is offered free of charge, a move by the CAAS to up the competitive stakes. According to Ms Julia Jemangin, public relations assistant manager with the CAAS, an average of 80 people make use of the airport's wireless LAN each day. But Mr Low is optimistic that the number of passengers using Changi Aiport's wireless LAN will continue to grow. He observed: "There are more and more passengers who have notebooks or PDAs fitted with wireless LAN cards." -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
