Corridor Free Wireless Network (cFree Wireless), a non-profit organization created to offer free wireless access to the three cities in the Iowa Corridor, collaborated in the selection with Communications Engineering Company (CEC), a Cedar-Rapids based systems integrator. Strix, cFree, and CEC will work together to provide high-speed wireless access to the downtown areas of the three cities and to the campus of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, providing wireless access to more than 200,000 residents and students.

After evaluating local Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), as well as competing mesh networking systems, cFree Wireless determined that Strix's multi-radio, multi-channel, and multi-RF architecture was the only system capable of handling the network demands while providing the ability to effectively scale -- a necessity since cFree Wireless plans to expand the network to more communities in order to provide access throughout the entire Iowa Corridor.

The collaboration is strengthened by a strong local partnership with Avalon Networks. Avalon is a regional DSL, dialup, and hosting provider based in Iowa City. Avalon is providing connectivity and hosting for the cities involved in the cFree Wireless project, as well as the IP (internet protocol) engineering of the network.

"We're involved because we felt that, as a local company, it was very important for us to support a local project," said Joe Hetrick with Avalon Networks, "and give back some of our knowledge and services to the communities that we serve."

"This project is truly unique because it shows that a group of both non-profit organizations and local companies can come together to make free, high-performance wireless access a reality," said Rob Pilaszewski, director of operations for cFree Wireless. "Our goal is to provide high-performance wireless access to everyone in the Iowa Corridor, drawing more people to the area and encouraging the growth of the 'creative class', a technologically savvy group of users who help drive the economy in these areas. Throughout our evaluation of wireless mesh systems, we found that Strix's Outdoor Wireless System (OWS) was the most complete, robust system on the market. Strix is the only system that provides truly high-performance wireless mesh networks with the lowest total cost, maximum client coverage, and highest overall capacity. As we continue to expand the network, Strix's ability to scale while supporting multiple real-time applications will prove essential."

cFree Wireless is a collaboration between the James Gang, a non-profit community building organization, and the Cedar Rapids Downtown District, a downtown revitalization organization. Financial contributions were provided by the City of Coralville, Linn County, the Cedar Rapids Downtown District, and Iowa.com, which is the "presenting sponsor" of the project. The organizations will enlist additional community sponsors to help cover the recurring monthly costs, ensuring that the wireless network will remain free for all residents and students in the Iowa Corridor. This collaboration shows that, through the cooperation of multiple local companies, community groups and non-profits, truly free wireless access can become a reality on a large scale.

"As large, multi-city deployments continue to choose the Strix OWS system, it becomes more and more clear that the main requirement of organizations deploying wireless mesh is the ability to provide a truly high-performance network that enables them to scale for future network demands," said Cyrus Irani, vice president of marketing and strategy at Strix Systems. "Throughout live product evaluations, organizations are realizing that the single or dual-radio mesh architectures can not meet these demands. Strix's multi-radio, multi-channel, and multi-RF approach provides the high-performance, high-bandwidth, and low-latency needed to provide data, voice, and video services on one mesh system, ensuring the lowest cost, maximum coverage, and highest capacity of any mesh system."

By Robert Hoskins

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