GARDEN CITY, Ala. – As of Monday, Dec. 21, residents of Garden City can access free public Wi-Fi in the park across from town hall every day from 6 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
A project that’s been months in the making, the Wi-Fi is being paid for by the Town, according to Mayor Tim Eskew, who said the project was turned down for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funding.
“Other municipalities got similar projects covered by CARES, but they turned us down, so we just went ahead and did it on our own,” he commented. “But now it’s up and running, no password required or anything.”
Eskew said the time it took to complete the project was due to a lack of proper equipment.
“It’s been trouble getting all the parts we need to do it with,” he said. “Our installer’s been ready, but the parts we needed hadn’t come in.”
On how many devices the park’s Wi-Fi can support, Eskew said, “Oh, it’ll be able to run a bunch. Our tech guy was very shocked at the speed of the internet there, so he felt it would be able to run a lot of devices. It’ll really help our folks a lot, especially with the kids going back to school in a little while – they can come over to the park and do their homework.”
The mayor said the system will also benefit residents living along County Road 509, where many experience Wi-Fi difficulties. Wat the Tech?, the technology company that installed the system, posted an image on its Facebook page showing that the system provides an upload speed of more than 11 Mbps and a download speed of more than 200 Mbps.
Eskew said he and the council are excited to bring this service to the residents of Garden City, smiling, “We just feel like this will be a big boost for a lot of people around here.”
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