San Francisco gets more Wifi without the city government’s help - again!

Want community WiFi in your area? Perhaps the best way to make it happen is to do it yourself. We reported earlier that Meraki was helping incrementally grow muni WiFi in San Fran. Now, residents of San Franciso’s Castro district are making wireless access happen using their own broadband connections and routers form FON.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–FON, the world’s largest WiFi community, is calling on all residents of San Francisco’s famous Castro neighborhood to join the FON community and bring comprehensive WiFi access to the Castro. Any qualifying resident or business owner of the Castro is eligible to receive a free La Fonera wireless router, including installation. FON is turning the Castro into a free WiFi zone by having individual neighbors share a small portion of their Internet connection. Everyone who shares gets free access to all hotspots created by the community. Castro residents can request their free router at SharetheCastro.com.

“The people of San Francisco want the best WiFi access possible,” said San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty. “I’m thrilled to support FON’s efforts to help solidify San Francisco’s reputation as the most wired city in the country.”

‘Share the Castro’ is a grassroots effort to bring WiFi to all through the contributions of individual business owners and residents. By everyone sharing a bit of their Internet connection, FON can turn those wireless access points into shared WiFi hotspots for the benefit of all.

If you’re in city government and want community WiFi, it may be the best way to get it is to publicly promise to not get involved. If you an interested citizen, it’s time to remember if you want something done better, faster, cheaper, it’s always best to band with like minded individuals and do it your self.