Free Wireless on the Downtown Square

Richard Rotzler, an IT professional who lives in Round Rock, uses the WiFi connection at Cianfrani Coffee Company.

Coffee shops and eateries in the heart of historic Georgetown are usually buzzing with informal business meetings and social conversation throughout the day, but as of today the Square becomes an official hot spot. The City of Georgetown has officially launched free downtown wireless service for visitors and customers on the Square.

The City’s information technology department turned on the free web access several weeks ago, and has since been testing it to see how it works.

Dennis Schoenborn, information technology director, says that people should be able to hit access points with a wireless device from most businesses on the Square. “Customers or visitors sitting in the front of a building on the Square should be OK. Depending on where you are in the building and the presence of any obstructions, the signal will be stronger or weaker,” says Schoenborn.

Access points at each corner of the Square provide the area of wireless coverage. The free high-speed wireless is being provided by the City as a service to visitors and customers on the Square. “A public WiFi service does not have the same level of security as a workplace computer network,” says Schoenborn. For that reason, it is not intended to provide Internet service for businesses on the Square.

“Free WiFi adds twenty-first-century-level service to the charm of our nineteenth-century Square,” says Shelly Hargrove, Main Street manager for the City. “We hope people will come down and check it out.”

Georgetown resident Roy Lewis uses the City’s wireless network at Cianfrani coffee shop.

To find the free WiFi on the downtown Square, look for the wireless network called “COGwifi.”

For more information, contact the Information Technology Department at it@georgetowntx.org or (512) 930-4357.