To celebrate 10 years of local journalism, Richland Source is revisiting some of its previous coverage and updating the community on the stories we’ve told.
p.s. Join us this Saturday for SourceFest, a free block party we’re throwing in celebration of a decade in local news. Click here to RSVP.
MOUNT VERNON — Mount Vernon implemented free public WiFi in limited downtown areas in January 2021; since then, it has expanded its scope throughout the city, and plans to further its reach in the near future.
The WiFi has allowed events in the area to conduct commerce digitally — including the Mount Vernon Farmers Market and First Friday — using credit cards, Google Pay, etc., without using up cellular data.
The free WiFi was extended to the northern side of downtown with the addition of a transmitter at the intersection of North Main Street and Chestnut Street.
The WiFi cost is being paid via American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, city auditor Terry Scott said.
Mount Vernon’s downtown WiFi network currently extends from Public Square down South Main Street, ending near the Wright Center. There is also some signal on the 100 block of North Main Street, Mayor Matt Starr said, as well as High Street heading east and west from Public Square.
To connect, users can click on “DowntownMV” in their WiFi browser and enter the password “mtv43050.” Guests must agree to the WiFi terms of use before connecting.
The city averages around 20-30 users at any given time, said the county’s Senior IT Support Benjamin Beever, adding 321 devices connected to the WiFi in the past month. The most popular places are the City Hall, the Public Square and Vine Street access points.
City Safety Service Director Richard Dzik was confident the WiFi network is kept secure.
“There is a login page where users must enter the publicly available password,” he said. “Utilizing a password, even though we give it to anyone who asks, was recommended by our IT company to make it harder for a hacker to drive through town and slow down the network.”
Regarding public notifications about the WiFi, Dzik said they sent out a press release when it was completed in 2020 and included the password. Experience Mount Vernon also printed decals for local businesses to display the password, Dzik said.
One of the primary purposes of the downtown WiFi was for merchants to be able to connect their point-of-sale systems during summer events, Dzik said. There’s been great success shown with those sale systems used during First Friday, the Farmer’s Market and other events with vendors downtown.
Mount Vernon Farmer’s Market Coordinator Marty Trese said the introduction of the public WiFi has been overwhelmingly beneficial for the market, giving vendors the ability to make transactions over WiFi rather than using cellular data.
The market processes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) transactions. Those who are on the program can come to the market and process those transactions with the help of the free wifi there, Trese said.
In another instance, a job applicant filled out a job application using the downtown’s WiFi when COVID-19 restrictions were in place. The applicant was informed by Mount Vernon Public Library staff that although he was unable to use their public computer system, he could fill out applications via the downtown’s WiFi.
“Anything that can provide internet access to people who don’t have access to broadband is a success in our eyes since it’s become essential to everyone’s day to day lives,” Dzik said.
Dzik also said he’s heard from someone that the village of Cardington is looking to create their own public WiFi.
The city administration is hoping to expand the public WiFi across the viaduct where the new intersection was installed at the CA&C depot.
“Additonally, we are installing internet connections to all of our parks over the next few years to allow us to monitor the camera systems we’ve been installing there,” Dzik said.
“If there’s enough bandwidth, I think we could create a public link in our parks as well. Obviously we’ll have to address this during budget time.”
