Free public Wi-Fi now available in the heart of downtown Macon

The heart of downtown now has free Wi-Fi service.

Wi-Fi Macon is a project of Middle Georgia State University’s School of Computing in partnership with Cox Communications and Macon-Bibb County.

The service is available along Poplar Street between Rosa Parks Square and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

“Public Wi-Fi is such an important part of any downtown or growing metropolitan area because it helps the community and the citizens to stay connected,” said Kevin Floyd, associate dean for the School of Computing. “There are a lot people in communities that don’t have access to the internet. We often take that for granted.

“So this is good for the citizens of the community, especially if it expands beyond downtown. It’s good for tourism, and it’s good for the businesses along this growing corridor of Macon,” he said.

The project is funded for 18 months through a $39,848 Downtown Challenge grant from the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, according to a memorandum of understanding between the mayor and the university approved by the Macon-Bibb County Commission.

The university was awarded the grant in December 2018.

Faculty, staff, and students from the university’s School of Computing worked with government officials, Cox Business and other community-partner businesses on the project, according to a university news release.

“We’re using this as a virtual, or a real life, if you will, learning environment,” Floyd said in a telephone interview. “The students (were) involved in the planning of the network, laying the network out, configuring some of the equipment.

“Moving forward, they are going to be actively collecting data from the network, analyzing the data, looking for vulnerabilities in the Wi-Fi. They’re going to have hands-on experience learning on how Wi-Fi networks work and how it’s configured and handle any of the potential trouble-shooting or problems that come up,” he said.

The Middle Georgia State University Foundation is working to find additional funding to continue the free public Wi-Fi beyond 18 months and to expand the service area in downtown Macon.

“We haven’t secured the funding yet, but we’re pretty confident that we’re going to be able to find other community partners once they are aware of the success of the Wi-Fi program,” Floyd said

How to connect to Wi-Fi Macon

In your device’s Wi-Fi settings, connect to the Wi-Fi Macon network. Launch your web browser, and you’ll be taken to the Wi-Fi Macon landing page to review and accept the terms and conditions. You’ll also see a list of partners who made the service possible.

An official launch event for Wi-Fi Macon is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in the Poplar Street Park between First and Second streets. The public is invited. Rain moves the event indoors to the New Town Macon offices.

This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 5:00 AM.