How Free Public Wi-Fi Was Restored to Greenville
On July 26th , the Line of Sight (LOS) internet delivery system that was installed for the Greenville public at The Spot after damage from “Snowmageddon,” in the winter of 2022-23. Repairs and upgrades have and will be made to ensure that winter snows will not interrupt the service again.
The networks are being delivered to The Spot via bandwidth donated by Plumas Sierra Telecommunications in Portola, CA, in partnership with SLPnet – the Sierra-Lassen-Plumas Network. SLPnet is a grassroots initiative to provide internet connectivity into 3 counties during and post disaster recovery. Bandwidth from fiber optics cable is transferred through several “line of sight” mountain tops to Mt. Hough and then down to Indian Valley to Chris Meyer’s Ranch, where it is directed to the Greenville Clinic, the High School, and finally The Spot. Daily tests show current speeds at consistent 93-96 Mbps in The Spot area. The Greenville Public network requires no Password, while a separate private network is provided to The Spot businesses with an encrypted Password for security concerns.
Repairs on Mt. Hough were made by Jim Kossow of Peak-to-Peak Communications while local repairs at The Spot were made by Julian Wells of the PCUSD. Repair costs and upgrades at The Spot were made possible through a grant donation of $1,000 by ChicoSTART of Chico, CA, and additional funding by the Indian Valley Innovation HUB (IVIH).
Many thanks to Matt Peterson of the Sierra-Lassen-Plumas Network (SLPnet) and Connect Humanity for writing the grant to shoulder the costs of design, permitting, and installing communication dishes and equipment on the 7 relays or structures needed to bring the “air fiber” into The Spot. Also, thanks to staff from the Greenville Clinic and the Greenville High School to accommodate equipment installations for this unique project. Indian Valley Innovation Hub board member Clint Koble and other local volunteers donated many hours of assembling equipment, raising the communications dishes from the ground to the towers, and testing each day to ensure free public Wi-Fi is available to all in downtown Greenville.