The City of Rock Island is pleased to announce there is now wireless Internet access in The District. Adding this access provides another amenity for downtown, one that will be attractive to young professionals and technologically savvy individuals.

Jennifer Fowler, Community Marketing Director, commented, “People can now come to The District, have a beverage of their choice in our of our outdoor cafes, and surf the Internet or conduct business on their laptop.

City Council set a priority to add wireless Internet access via Wi-Fi technology and security cameras to enchance downtown. During the design of the camera system, additional fiber optic cable was installed to support both initiatives.

The area of service is the Great River Plaza, or Second Avenue, from 17th to 19th Streets. Currently, there is no charge to access the system. The Service Set Identifier (SSID) for the network is RIFI. Users will see this name when accessing the wireless network in The District.

Tip for using RIFI:

• Your laptop computer must have a Wi-Fi network card in it. Most newer laptops have this built-in. If not, computer retailers offer several choices for less than $100.

• Once installed, depending on the operating system (the most popular is Microsoft Windows XP), the laptop will pop-up usually with a message indicating that a Wireless Network is available, and provide a list.

• Select RIFI, and click connect.

• Open the Internet browser of your choice.

Two 802.11g wireless access points have been installed outdoors; these units are interconnected to City Hall, and then on to the Internet. Current back-end bandwith is set at three megabits per second.