City’s free Wi-Fi service has limited availability
Vandalism and load-shedding are two of the reasons why residents are not able to access the city’s free Wi-Fi service.
Tshwane municipality has confirmed that its free Wi-Fi is still in service.
The city provides free Wi-Fi across more than 780 Wi-Fi internet zones, including open public spaces, educational institutions, clinics and libraries.
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said the service was still in operation, but was affected by various factors.
“The public can access it at certain schools, libraries (Mayville and Moot community libraries), and parks (on the R55).
“It can be accessed at Cullinan, Refilwe, Laudium, Centurion, Soshanguve, Temba, etcetera,” added Mashigo.
However, he said availability was limited and was affected by factors such as budget, vandalism, and load-shedding.
According to Mashigo, the city’s Wi-Fi service needed new equipment, as sites have been vandalised, the technology was old, and load-shedding could last up to 12 hours per day.
“All mentioned reasons lead to downtime, while the surge in electricity leads to malfunctioning of equipment and overall degeneration.”
The metro provides residents with 1 GB of data per day at speeds of up to 15 MB/s at free TshWi-Fi locations.
It also has an app that allows users to find nearby hotspots, hosts past exam papers and supports calls to mobile and landline numbers.
IT student Bradley Manyiki, who lives in the CBD, told Rekord the Wi-Fi service was not working efficiently, as some days he struggled to access it.
“This problem may be linked to a configuration problem, as the signal is strong and one could see the network,” said Manyiki.
It seems it’s not only at Church Square where residents struggle to connect to the city’s Wi-Fi, as Veronica Masilo said she also battled to connect at Doringkloof Tennis Club.
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