Plover Library Now Wireless

Wireless Internet access is now up and running at the Plover Branch Library. The wireless link to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point spans over five miles and provides a data transfer speed over 2 megabits per second.   

The Portage County Public Library in collaboration with the University Library of the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point was the first public library in Wisconsin to use wireless technology to gain access to the Internet. 

The Ethernet bridges were purchased from Wi-LAN, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Wi-LAN's Hopper Plus wireless Ethernet bridges provide simple "plug-and-play" LAN-to-LAN connectivity at rates of up to 4.5 megabits per second, rates that are comparable to more costly T1 connections and 50 times faster than today's 33.6 kilobits per second commercial modems. Available in both 902-928 MHz and 2.4 GHz versions, the Hopper Plus can connect any number of remote Ethernet networks using the company's proprietary point-to-multipoint radio protocol. The Hopper Plus offers robust network security features including unique spreading codes, irregular data packet transmission, and a unique customer access code to ensure that no one can intercept and de-scramble a Hopper Plus radio signal. The Hopper Plus is an ideal solution for building an infrastructure of creating wide area networks, providing high-speed Internet access, and other wireless networking applications.

updated February 06, 2002