Downtown Wi-Fi Hotspots Coming Soon

Petaluma residents could soon be able to pop open their laptop at Walnut Park, Penry Park and anywhere else downtown and get online for free, thanks to a new collaboration between the city, Comcast and a San Francisco company that will offer the service in exchange for running an ad every time a user logs on, the Petaluma Argus-Courier is reporting.

At least five to ten “hot spots” will available by the end of April, with more being added over the next year and will provided courtesy of AdSpots, a San Francisco online advertising company. The infrastructure will be provided by Comcast.

Confirmed hot spots include Hotel Petaluma, Food Bar, the restaurant on Petaluma Boulevard North, Powell’s Sweet Shop, according to the story.

If the initial phase is successful, the city will then expand the free wi-fi to parks, restaurants and other businesses. Another idea is to have wi-fi available on buses for people who don’t have a data plan on their phones or want to work on their computers.

How would you use free public wi-fi if and when it becomes available?