Cisco to bolster London Wi-Fi in the Square Mile

Free, public Wi-Fi network being deployed with carrier O2 and Cornerstone Telecommunication Infrastructure

London’s Square Mile, the colloquial name for the city’s historic center, is set for a major boost in public Wi-Fi with a planned deployment from Cisco in partnership with local carrier O2 and other stakeholders. Outdoor access points will ultimately cover some 400,000 people that work in the area, according to the U.S. networking firm.

The workhorse of this project is Cisco’s Aironet 1560 Series outdoor AP, which supports the IEEE 802.11 Wave 2 standard. The Wave 2 standard introduces multi-user multiple-input, multiple-output (mu-MIMO) and supports a peak hypothetical speed of 6.9 Gbps in the 5 GHz band. This particular Cisco AP supports a 3×3 MIMO configuration with peak speeds of 1.3 Gbps per data stream.

Cisco SVP Peter Karlstromer discussed the project in the context of network infrastructure as an avenue to make major cities globally competitive. “Free Wi-Fi connectivity is now a pre-requisite for any city looking to drive innovation,” he said. “The deployment with O2…is a perfect example of the role that cities can play in connecting people. We are excited to continue to support the roll out of free Wi-Fi across London and ensure that next generation connectivity is accessible to everyone.”

United Kingdom has 15th best public Wi-Fi in the world, according to analysis

According to a recent analysis published by Ooma, the U.K. has the 15th best public Wi-Fi in the world with an average download speed slightly in excess of 10 Mbps and an average upload speed around 5 Mbps.

Based solely on measures of download speeds, including both public and private Wi-Fi networks, here’s the global top 20:

#1: Lithuania (15.4 Mbps)
#2: Croatia (14.05 Mbps)
#3: Estonia (13.75 Mbps)
#4: Ireland (11.43 Mbps)
#5: Romania (11.32 Mbps)
#6: United Kingdom (10.97 Mbps)
#7: Denmark (10.52 Mbps)
#8: Hungary (10.37 Mbps)
#9: Belgium (10.07 Mbps)
#10: Slovenia (9.72 Mbps)
#11: Bulgaria (9.67 Mbps)
#12: Singapore (9.49 Mbps)
#13: Finland (8.69 Mbps)
#14: Switzerland (8.67 Mbps)
#15: Latvia (8.46 Mbps)
#16: Germany (7.96 Mbps)
#17: Sweden (7.90 Mbps)
#18: Portugal (7.43 Mbps)
#19: Canada (7.16 Mbps)
#20: U.S.A. (6.89 Mbps)