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AT&T Expanding Wi-Fi Hotspot Zones to Charlotte and Chicago

Monday July 26, 2010 11:44 am PDT by Eric Slivka

AT&T today announced the launch of a new hotspot zone located in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, providing an extra layer of coverage enabling higher data speeds while moving traffic off of the carrier's cellular network.

The large outdoor Wi-Fi hotzone provides coverage along South Brevard Street from the area around the NASCAR Hall of Fame Plaza to East Trade Street, and for AT&T customers waiting to use the nearby Lynx light rail.

The Charlotte, N.C., AT&T Wi-Fi hotzone is the second to be deployed as part of a pilot project to explore using Wi-Fi to supplement AT&T's mobile broadband coverage in areas with consistently high 3G traffic and mobile data use.

The company launched its first "hotzone" in New York City's Times Square in late May and announced today that will also be deploying one in Chicago "in the coming weeks".

In the most recent quarter, AT&T claimed 68.1 million Wi-Fi connections on its network, up more than fourfold over the 15 million connections seen in the same quarter in 2009.
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ArtOfWarfare
Posted: 20 months ago
Huh, how's it working out so far in NY Square?

I don't have an issue where I live personally with AT&T's network, but when I visit the big cities in CA, NY, and PA, I've noticed the network is a lot more flunky...
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KentuckyApple
Posted: 20 months ago
Please put it somewhere in the Loop or by Wrigley.
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brianbobcat
Posted: 20 months ago

Please put it somewhere in the Loop or by Wrigley.


I gotta think that Grant Park, especially Millennium Park, would be ripe for this. Maybe outside of Wrigley, but I think up and down Michigan Ave. would be a lot more likely first.

-Brian
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clayj
Posted: 20 months ago
For those of you who don't know Charlotte, the location of the AT&T hotspot zone has basically NOTHING on it. No restaurants, no bars, no nightclubs, no Starbucks, nothing of interest (and yes, that includes the barely-visited NASCAR Hall of Fame).

Let me put it this way: I have lived in downtown Charlotte for ten years and I have NEVER ONCE been on foot on South Brevard Street, even though it's less than one mile from my residence and less than a quarter-mile from my job.
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Seiga
Posted: 20 months ago

Please put it somewhere in the Loop or by Wrigley.


The Loop is good, but Wrigley, iPhones will cry much faster with the disappointment that is the Cubs. Loop and Grant Park are amazing places they should really concentrate on.
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MurphyM
Posted: 20 months ago

For those of you who don't know Charlotte, the location of the AT&T hotspot zone has basically NOTHING on it. No restaurants, no bars, no nightclubs, no Starbucks, nothing of interest (and yes, that includes the barely-visited NASCAR Hall of Fame).

Let me put it this way: I have lived in downtown Charlotte for ten years and I have NEVER ONCE been on foot on South Brevard Street, even though it's less than one mile from my residence and less than a quarter-mile from my job.


clayj - You REALLY need to look at this.... Couldn't agree more ! What's weird about that spot is there are two AT&T buildings anchoring the area described. Yes -it's a total dead spot for 3G, or at least it used to be. But outdoor wifi won't help, there's nobody to use it!

The link above is to a post about the weird site selection. And has photos I took showing the AT&T buildings and lack of 3G.
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clayj
Posted: 20 months ago

clayj - You REALLY need to look at this.... Couldn't agree more ! What's weird about that spot is there are two AT&T buildings anchoring the area described. Yes -it's a total dead spot for 3G, or at least it used to be. But outdoor wifi won't help, there's nobody to use it!

The link above is to a post about the weird site selection. And has photos I took showing the AT&T buildings and lack of 3G.

Seriously, Brevard Street is probably THE most worthless street in downtown Charlotte (by which I mean in close proximity to the Square, not just inside I-277). It's like a back alley to the rest of downtown.

If AT&T wanted to do something useful, they'd've put the WiFi in at the EpiCentre or around the Square/along Tryon Street from 2nd/MLK to 7th.
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pika2000
Posted: 20 months ago
AT&T Wifi hotspots are useless. They are limited (only a handful of establishments in my area that offer this, and they are few in between), and it's not even encrypted.
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davidgrimm
Posted: 20 months ago
I guess this is good news if you live in Charlotte or Chicago. I don't, so its not really something to get excited about. Time they get around to doing this in my city, it will be old technology... :(
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fkntotalkaos
Posted: 20 months ago

AT&T Wifi hotspots are useless. They are limited (only a handful of establishments in my area that offer this, and they are few in between), and it's not even encrypted.

Sprint 4g or Clear 4g ftw
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