Sonic.net is expanding plans to build networks that will provide free wireless Internet service to residents and businesses in sections of Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Windsor.


The plan is the latest effort by the Santa Rosa Internet company to experiment with new business models, such as generating revenue from ads displayed to people while they browse for free.

The company also hopes to win over more customers by creating greater public awareness of its Internet services during a time of increased competition from national broadband providers such as Comcast and AT&T.

"We are hoping people are seeing the Sonic brand and choose to get Sonic.net DSL at their home," said the company's president, Dane Jasper.

Sonic.net is expanding its free WiFi network in downtown Petaluma to more than one square mile, following a similar expansion plan in Santa Rosa near the Junior College neighborhood.

It also plans to provide blanket coverage to Santa Rosa Junior College campuses in Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Windsor.

The Petaluma expansion and SRJC campus networks are expected to be up and running by early next year. Sonic.net must first install Internet-access hardware atop lightpoles.

In addition to downtown Petaluma, the company will provide free wireless Internet in the city's marina and airport areas. The exact coverage area is still being determined.

The company is also offering free wireless Internet hardware to any business in its free WiFi coverage area that has seating, such as restaurants and coffee shops. The hardware, which is about the size of a wallet with a stubby antenna, takes the signal from outside and relays it deep into the back of stores for better coverage. Other businesses and residents can get the relay hardware for $49.

Sonic.net recently started providing free wireless Internet on some Airport Express buses, and eventually hopes to equip the whole fleet.

The Internet provider also plans to provide blanket coverage to three Santa Rosa Junior College campuses, including Santa Rosa, Windsor and Petaluma. Sonic.net's goal is to have functional access both inside and outside of all campus buildings and in all open spaces, Jasper said.

Sonic.net has also proposed building a free wireless network in Sebastopol, where the City Council is considering the offer. Some residents have requested further research into the health effects of radio waves used to transmit wireless Internet data.

The company previously announced a plan to deploy wireless Internet to the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood, and update its free access network downtown. That expansion has been delayed by several months and is now expected to be in operation by late November or December, Jasper said.

Other wireless Internet providers have approached Petaluma about building a network, but those companies all wanted money from the city, said Tim Williamson, Petaluma's information technology manager.

"When Dane told me it was free, I sat there with my mouth open for 2 hours," Williamson said. "It almost sounds too good to be true."

Sonic.net is willing to provide the free service to the cities, campuses and users because it is experimenting with new ways to make money, Jasper said.

The company also hopes to make money from an ad bar displayed when people use the free Internet access.

"It remains to be seen whether people click on the ads," Jasper said. "We're hoping to prove the business model one way or another."

While many other municipal WiFi projects have failed or stalled due to high costs -- most notably EarthLink and Google's plan to bring free WiFi to all of San Francisco -- Sonic.net is utilizing a technology developed by Mountain View-based equipment maker Meraki that significantly reduces the cost.

Where other city projects cost anywhere from $100,000 to $190,000 a square mile to build, Sonic.net hopes to spend less than $25,000 a square mile by using Meraki's Internet equipment.

Meraki's technology was initially developed at MIT as a way to deliver Internet service to poor neighborhoods in developing countries. But ISPs such as Sonic.net have latched onto the gear as an inexpensive way to deliver free wireless Internet.

"We are seeing a lot of interest," said Meraki's CEO and co-founder Sanjit Biswas. "There is a lot of innovation going on with the independent providers."

Meraki frustrated many Internet providers by suddenly tripling the price of its equipment from $49 to $150 last month. But it has promised Sonic.net and others to honor the old pricing for existing projects such as Petaluma, the SRJC campuses and Santa Rosa.

While efforts to commercialize free WiFi networks have stumbled, consumers have embraced the technology. Santa Rosa resident Asher Miller, who runs the nonprofit Climate Changers, said he has been going to Flying Goat Coffee in Railroad Square instead of Peet's Coffee & Tea in downtown because he gets better free wireless reception at the square.

"Having a WiFi connection is a boost for businesses," Miller said.

You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com.