Houston Wireless was founded in the Summer of 2001 as the Houston Wireless Users Group . The telecommunications providers were slow to roll out third-generation wireless ( 3G ) , so Houston Wireless was established to promote high-speed wireless access across Houston and its suburban areas . Houston Wireless experimented with different network protocols , such as IPsec , mobile IP and IPv6 , as well as different wireless technologies , including 802.11 a , 802.11 g and ultra-wideband ( UWB ) . By 2003 Houston Wireless had 30 WLAN hotspots , 100 people on their mailing lists and their monthly meetings were attended by about 25 people . NYCwirelsss was established in New York City in May 2001 with the aim of providing public hotspots and promote the use of consumer owned unlicensed low-cost wireless networking equipment . In order to get more public Wi-Fi hotspots installed , NYCwirelsss contracted with the for-profit company Cloud Networks , which was staffed by some of the founding members of the NYCwireless community project . In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 NYCwirelsss helped to provide emergency communication by quickly assembling and deploying free Wi-Fi hotspots in areas of New York City that had no other telecommunications . In the summer of 2002 the Bryant Park wireless network became the flagship project of NYCwireless , with about 50 users every day . By 2003 NYCwireless had more than 100 active hotspots throughout New York City
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Wireless community network