Wireless Ypsi looking to future after impressive year

By Christine Laughren
Feb. 2, 2009    ·    2:02 p.m.

Wireless Ypsi celebrated its first year Sunday.

Ypsilanti residents Steve Pierce and Brian Robb started Wireless Ypsi in January 2008 with the goal of bringing free broadband wireless access to Ypsilanti and surrounding communities.

Wireless Ypsi is a collaboration between local residents and business owners to leverage local infrastructure in order to provide broadband wireless access to Ypsilanti. Wireless Ypsi uses San Francisco-based Meraki Network's hardware to provide a free community wireless Internet service.

Since last year, Wireless Ypsi has topped 12,750 users and 6.5 terabytes.

Terabytes are the unit of measurement to describe the amount of data moved across the network. There are 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes, in a terabyte.

“That’s a freaking lot of data moved around in a single year,” Pierce said.

The network initially started with 15 access points around the community. Since then, it has grown to over 150 access points and covers nearly two miles of Ypsilanti and the surrounding area.

"The numbers are amazing,” Pierce said. “Over 500 people a day are using Wireless Ypsi."

Robb said he is amazed by the number of people frequenting Downtown and Depot Town who are bringing computers into shops and restaurants to work and visit.

“Wireless Ypsi has demonstrated that Ypsilanti is part of Washtenaw County's high-tech culture,” Robb said. “Free Internet access is just one more reason to come visit Ypsilanti.”

In its second year, Wireless Ypsi expects to double its service again, expanding coverage into Riverside and Frog Island Parks as well as working with the Ypsilanti Housing Commission and area agencies to provide coverage for hundreds of residents in at-risk neighborhoods.

Pierce said he hopes by this time next year Wireless Ypsi will have all the Housing Commission properties set up with free Internet. He said he is most excited about the Housing Commission project and helping to facilitate Internet education for low-income families.

“There are literally thousands of people in Ypsi, that for a variety of reasons can’t or don’t know how to use the Internet,” he said.

Wireless Ypsi also plans to go after some grant money from the State in the new year to purchase four solar powered wireless nodes for the Ypsilanti community.

Wireless Ypsi networks have also been started in Dearborn, Lincoln Park, and Trenton as well as Wayne County's Elizabeth Park. Pierce said Downtown Ann Arbor and Whitmore Lake are the most recent communities to host a Wireless Ypsi node.