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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Common questions about the Downtown Wireless Internet
Q. Who started it? A. El Paso County and the City of El Paso spearheaded development of the concept, with the Housing Authority and El Paso ISD joining them as primary sponsors. Q. Who is involved? A. It is a collaborative effort of over 15 organizations, including: EPCC, UTEP, Intel, Cisco, Varay Systems, El Paso Electric, Upper Rio Grande @ Work, Cognent, Transtelco, Microsoft, Goodwill Industries, La Fe Clinic, First Light Federal Credit Union and Dell. Q. When did the project begin? A. The primary sponsors began work on the network in Fall 2006. Q. Why did it take so long to get started? A. The Digital El Paso committee chose to develop the project with the input and participation of many organizations, rather than invest to have the network installed quickly. Several other municipal wireless projects have failed because of the expensive up-front investment, without realizing a return for the municipality or private enterprise that funded the project. Digital El Paso has been carefully learning from other cities. Though the wireless network was installed some months ago the Committee felt it was important to have a package including training and the availability of computers for access to the network. We wanted to wait until this was in place before making a formal Digital El Paso announcement. Q. Can I give my old computer to Digital El Paso? A. Yes. El Paso Community College started the ORCA program to recycle used computers, fit them with wireless cards and distribute them to residents who need them. Click here to learn more. Q. How much money has been spent on the project so far? A. The four partners invested $125,000 in ths project initially. Additional electrical work was paid for by the City. Significant additional contributions of in-kind services have been received from a number of the Digital El Paso members. Q. How does it help the Community? A. Residents, business and government agencies may access the Internet in areas that have little or no access sites. Residents who have no computers are being offered training and take-home use of Internet-ready computers. Q. How do you use it? A. Residents in the Downtown coverage area who wish to participate in training and the take-home computer program should register for courses at La Fe Clinic, or, soon, Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Accessing the Wireless Internet: The user will need a computer or laptop with a wireless card. The user must be in a "hot spot," or coverage area. (See Map) Depending on the wireless card and operating system (Windows or Mac), the user will see a pop-up or icon on the screen with information about available wireless networks. The user may click on the icon to see a list of available networks. The user should select "digitalelpaso" from the list of available networks and connect. Finally, the user may launch a web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Safari) to access the web. Q. Do I need to register? A. No, you don't need to register or get a password.
Q. What operating system will I need to use the wireless Internet?
Q. How fast is the wireless Internet? A. Speed will vary between 500 K to approximately 2 Mbps, depending on how many people are connected and what type of content is uploaded/downloaded. In other words, you should be able to access simple web pages and some video clips, depending on how many people are accessing Digital El Paso at the same time.
Q. Where do I go for help? A. You may choose an independent service provider from the local phone book (look under Computers or Internet). Depending on your issue, they may charge a fee for their services. You may also contact the Help pagefor the EPCC service desk.
Q. Is my web browsing being monitored? A. No. Your access to the web is not monitored. However, EPISD students navigating on school laptops will be routed to your school Internet browsing system. |