Better access to Wi-Fi is now available for people along South Main Street in Hanover, thanks to a new partnership between Dartmouth and the town.
“We already interconnect with the town on a network level,” says Felix Windt, Dartmouth’s chief technology officer. “It seemed like it would be useful for the Dartmouth community, and the wider community of Hanover, to have better access downtown.”
For the project, the town paid to have fiber optic cable run to two buildings on South Main Street and purchased equipment, which Dartmouth installed using technology it had developed for similar improvements on the Green.
The expanded service, managed by Dartmouth, is expected to benefit residents and visitors alike, including Appalachian Trail hikers searching for services as they pass through Hanover, and anyone who relies on in-town apps, such as ParkMobile to pay for parking.
Modeled on Dartmouth’s successful installation of Wi-Fi on the Green, it uses wireless access devices—small rectangular boxes—connected to Hanover’s fiber optic network to transmit signals across discrete areas.
“Our initial plan is to do this just in a couple of locations, like a proof-of-concept,” Windt says of the project, which aims to help address the issue of sometimes spotty Wi-Fi and cell service in Hanover, an issue common to many towns in northern New England.
The expansion covers the area roughly from the Town Offices, at 41 S. Main Street, to the Dartmouth-owned 63 South Main Street, although the signal may be accessible, if weaker, beyond that, says Jason Mosel, the network engineer with Information, Technology, and Consulting who managed the installation and the previous work on the Green.
Both Dartmouth and town officials foresee additional wireless access points on the horizon.
“It’s been a good collaboration,” says Corey Stevens, Hanover’s IT director. “I have no doubt that if this works well, we will continue to put these in other places.”
As elsewhere in Hanover, the service includes public Wi-Fi and access to eduroam, the encrypted network for Dartmouth students, faculty, and staff.
