The last time we visited my wife’s family there, several years ago, schools were the only source of broadband access. Since two of my sisters-in-law are teachers, I was able to visit their classrooms and jack in. This time, I found a dozen access points in the immediate vicinity of my in-laws’ house. None, predictably, was WEP-enabled. The strongest signal came from the WaveLAN at the junior high, so I parked there to synch mail and RSS.

It was a surreal experience to have available, in such a situation, all the essential tools of my professional life: a cellphone; high-speed Internet access; even videoconferencing if I’d needed it. And to be honest, it wasn’t an entirely comfortable experience. So I half expected the flashing blue lights that came up behind me. Out-of-state plates, motor running, headlights off, and a blue glow in the cockpit: I presented a very odd picture indeed.

Is it conceivable that a small town might designate a well-known AP for public access, including drive-through use? The public library would be the obvious candidate. (Ideally its public-access AP would be isolated from the library’s internal network.) During regular hours, visitors could bring laptops inside, but after hours they could park outside in a well-lit and easily-monitored area. Then there’d be no incentive to cruise schools and residential neighborhoods scanning for APs.

Appropriately enough, I’m posting this from the Evanston Public Library, where the wireless is apparently not official yet, but it works just fine!