Tracy Press

The Tracy and Mountain House public libraries are now set up for you to use your own computer to surf the Internet.

Tracy and Mountain House library patrons can now surf the ’net on their own laptops for free, instead of plunking down cash at many local coffee shops.

Like the dozen other San Joaquin County library public branches, the Mountain House and Tracy libraries launched free wireless Internet service this week.

With the school year starting, local branch manager Kathleen Buffleben expects to see a lot of students take advantage of the no-cost wireless access.

Travelers, businessmen and businesswomen comprise much of the laptop crowd at the branch, too, she said.

"We see a lot of people who come here looking for a quiet place to sit down with their computer," she said, after testing out the high-speed server on her own laptop. "Now they get to have their own access."

The main thing, though, is that patrons using their own laptops will free up the shared computers for the people who rely on them the most, Buffleben said.

All 13 county branches launched the wireless service this week.

The new wireless is part of the county’s strategic plan to improve local libraries.

Last month, the county increased the bandwidth for the public computers, and later this year, all libraries will get new shared computers.

The cost of the improvements is still being figured out county library spokeswoman Heather Mompean said.

The library Web site will add a question-answer section for the public to learn more about how to use the wireless service.

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written by Tracy RealNews , August 09, 2008

Love it!

Great idea!

FYI: The downtown coffee shop (The Roasted Bean) has free Wi-Fi too!

The Livermore Library has a Coffee Shop and FREE Wireless!

Good to see that were starting to catch up to the times!!!

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written by Tracy RealNews , August 09, 2008

Bouquets to the Library!!!

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written by GTkitkats , August 10, 2008

Will there be a catch? Most "free" Wi-Fi spots require you to sign up for a service, and that's inconvenient.

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written by UCoty , August 10, 2008

I think it is great too. Maybe have wirless at the sports park so siblings could do homework while the other sibling is playing after school sports.

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written by Tracy RealNews , August 10, 2008

Actually, most Wi-Fi services don't require a sign up. Although it is true that some do. There are companies that provide software to manage the login to multiple Hotspots (both the free ones and the not so free ones). Most of the companies that sell wireless management software require a login. There are several. And they are becoming Wireless Networks - in a sense.

Looking at the DeviceScape, you will see that one of the reasons for management software is because Microsoft's wireless manager is one of the worst things that Microsoft has ever designed. Microsoft's wireless manager for WinMobile is even worse the the one that comes with XP/2000/Vista.

Here's an example of a free wireless that requires a sign in. The deal is that if you purchase a router from Fon they will let you use any other Fon Hotspot, for free.

Regardless, the Wi-Fi service at The Roasted Bean is free. I think the other coffee shop across the street charges for Wi-Fi.

If you're a LINUX user (or a real hacker) try this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wpa_supplicant

It's free, but not easy.

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written by Tracy RealNews , August 10, 2008

forgot the "free".

Actually, most free Wi-Fi services don't require a sign up.

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written by Tracy RealNews , August 11, 2008

The Downtown, Barista's coffee shop also has free Wireless (Wi-Fi). Although, Java Makers does not have free Wi-Fi.

Mc Donalds uses AT&T and they charge for wireless.
Similar to Starbucks who use T-Mobile.