Wireless In Show Low

by Nick Coons
Aug 13, 2003

I was up in Show Low earlier this week to survey the city for upgrading their wireless network. We took the path through Payson, up Highway 87 and east on 260. This is probably the first time I've gone straight to Show Low without it being a scenic drive and without making recreational stops along the way.

We first got to know our contact person for the city over lunch, and he was very pleasant to talk with. We discussed some of the city's computer needs, as well as the history of the town and how it came to be. In addition, the restaurant itself was an interesting experience, and there will be more available on that next week.

The next hour or so was spent touring around the city taking snapshots and video images of their existing wireless network to give us an idea of how they were currently setup, what they were looking to accomplish, and we could accomplish it. To my surprise, there is no single high-point that can be seen from everyone in town, so we'll end up having to relay our signal off of several different towers.

After receiving the "ok" to move forward, it looks like we may have the job. We started on our way back home and noticed a dust storm and high winds as we were entering the valley. This dust crossed over the sunset and created a magnificent orange glow with lightning behind the clouds. It was a rare opportunity that required me to capture as much footage as I could. I hope to be able to make some of it available soon.