LANSING – Downtown Lansing went wireless Tuesday. Lansing-based tech company ACD.net has installed a massive Wi-Fi network, called the LansingNet and it’s free to use for the next two months.

?Our wireless network will change how residents and business owners use the

Internet in downtown Lansing,? says ACD.net president and CEO Kevin Schoen.

?Wireless systems in use today are like a trickling stream. Our system is like

Niagara Falls.?

Lansing mayor Virg Bernero says the use of new wireless technology in

downtown Lansing is great news for the city. The community will be able to use the network for free for the next two months. Monthly access plans will start at $9.95 per month.

?This new service helps us achieve one of the key goals of my Wireless Lansing

initiative, which is to ensure that downtown Lansing has ubiquitous wireless

Internet service,? says Bernero. ?It is very exciting to see one of the leading

technology companies in Lansing make wireless broadband more readily

available in and around our downtown.?

ACD.net has partnered with a U.S.-based international wireless equipment

manufacturer to position the wireless Internet service throughout the downtown

area. Schoen says Lansing will receive national attention for the LansingNet

system.

Older wireless systems work reasonably well for simple text e-mail, browsing the

Internet and other low bandwidth functions. ACD.net?s next-generation network

allows users to make phone calls over the Internet (known as Voice over

Internet Protocol, or VoIP) and to send and receive massive documents such as

blueprints and movies using laptop computers.

Each access point on the ACD.net wireless system can handle hundreds of

individual computer connections with speeds of up to 20 MB/s for both upload

and download. It also provides significantly greater capacity per square mile

than current mesh Wi-Fi solutions. Where needed, boosters will be available to

push the signal to computers inside buildings. The cost savings and improved

services to consumers and businesses will be apparent immediately.

Local users can access the new network by searching for the network named

?ACD.net Web Login? with the wireless card on their computer. Once they

connect they will either be directed to a website to obtain a username and

password or, if they already have one, they?ll be able to log on and start surfing.

They can also visit MITechNews.Com

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