Free Hamilton central city WiFi expands

A free wireless internet service launched in Garden Place in December has now been expanded to encompass more of central Hamilton.

The free WiFi is now also able to be accessed in Hood Street and along a section of Victoria Street between Hood Street and Garden Place.

Hamilton mayor Julie Hardaker said the free WiFi service was identified by Hamilton’s Creativity and Identity Strategy Forum and the Digital Hamilton study, and aims to help attract people to the central city.

“The free WiFi got off to a great start with its launch in December and since then we have been working to expand its coverage area. We see the service as an essential offering for our residents, businesspeople, students and visitors alike – it provides yet another great reason to spend time in the central city.”

Users are able to connect to the free WiFi when accessing the internet using wireless devices such as laptops or smart phones within the coverage area and selecting the ‘hamiltonline’ network. Once connected users will automatically be taken to a Hamilton landing page which promotes the city.

The key purpose of the network is to allow browsing of the internet on a casual basis, therefore heavy downloading, video streaming and other types of extensive use is restricted. Those who want unlimited access are able to pay for a faster service provided by Lightwire.

The WiFi service has been developed by Hamilton City Council, Rural Link, Velocity Networks and VO2, a company at the Soda Inc business incubator.