Digital Maricopa

Upon my first visit to the library, I wanted to give an early review of the setup there. The library is a great place to study, research, and chill while reading a book or surfing the web. Being a generally quiet area, the ability to surf quickly and with little interruption should be prevalent. After sending the kids off to pick out some books and nestling in a quiet corner, I began my review.

I use four factors in judging how well a WiFi hotspot is setup. Cost, Ease of Use, Speed of Service, and Ambiance. Each one is graded on a scale of 4, with 4 being the highest and 1 the lowest.

Cost: Free. The setup is totally free with no strings attached. I didn’t even have to get a library card to surf. Pretty sweet in my book. I give them the awesome 4 for this one.

Ease of use: The access point was an easy find. There were no captive portals so logon was a brease. I don’t remember if the SSID was unique, but at the library, that was the only one in range. I give them a 4 for this.

Speed of Service: I have selected my usual servers for this test. Again, this service is Qwest.

Basic single DSL connection. Not something a gamer is looking for. I fear that since a lot of people will use this point and bog down the connection, I will give them a 1. At least bump up the service some.

Ambiance: The library is supposed to be quiet. I did notice a lot of kids running around, and lots of people on the computers. It wasn’t loud, but I could get annoyed if I stayed there much longer than an hour or so. I go with a 3 simply because it is a very public, although quiet, place.

Totals:
Cost: 4
Ease: 4
Speed: 1
Ambiance: 3
___________
Final Score: 12

This is a good place to do your surfing if your looking for a semi-quiet place to sit down and surf the web. If your board and want something else to do, grab a book on your way home. This offers advantages that other places can’t offer, I just wish it was a bit quieter and faster. Still, a great place to surf.