PROJECT'S LEADERS GET READY TO BUILD NETWORK TEST SITES

What will it take to make Silicon Valley's wireless network work?

That's the question weighing on the minds behind the proposed wireless project, which is expected to be one of the largest in the world, spanning 1,500 square miles and covering 2.4 million people.

The project -- officially renamed the Joint Venture Wireless Project -- will begin building one-square-mile test sites in Palo Alto and San Carlos within the next few weeks. The tests were expected to start in late February or early March, but project leaders say they are slightly behind schedule because of the bureaucratic complexities of getting city authorizations and figuring out where to put the wireless nodes, or access points.

"I'm looking at it more as a learning experience than a delay,'' said Brian Moura, a co-chair of the project and the assistant city manager for San Carlos. "I know they are very excited about getting it out there.''

More than 40 cities, from South San Francisco to Santa Cruz, are expected to participate in the network. Others such as Los Angeles have asked to watch and learn from Silicon Valley's experience.

The demand for wireless networks has skyrocketed in recent years, and project leaders are getting requests from cities across the United States asking for advice on how to build them. Closer to home, cities outside the immediate Silicon Valley area have asked to join in.

But recent reports from Pacific Research Institute and industry consulting firm Novarum warn that municipalities need to tread carefully into the wireless world to ensure that the best technology is being offered.

The challenges range from specifying equipment upgrades in the contract to making sure extensive agreements are negotiated with cities and utility companies.

But perhaps the most critical challenge is making sure there are enough wireless nodes available to make the network dependable for city workers and accessible to residents trying to log on. More nodes are needed in areas with a lot of trees, buildings or hills that could block the signal, and as more people use the network.

After issuing a report last week titled "Wi-Fi waste: The disaster of municipal communications networks,'' Pacific Research Institute policy fellow Vince Vasquez said cities need to make sure their wireless networks remain open to competitors, ensuring the best service to residents.

Novarum praised the wireless network in St. Cloud, Fla., as the best-performing among 14 networks it tested throughout North America. St. Cloud's network ranked at 4.23 on a scale of 1 to 5. Google's Mountain View network ranked second with a rating of 3.46.

Phil Belanger, managing director of Novarum, said the best networks had 35 to 40 nodes a square mile, meaning there were more wireless antenna devices attached to light poles and buildings with which laptops could connect.

"The variability in quality goes to the investment that either the city or service provider has made, directly correlated to how many nodes per square mile,'' Belanger said. Forty nodes per square mile would be good for Silicon Valley, where masses of people probably will be trying to connect to the network.

The Joint Venture Wireless Project is prepared to install 30 to 40 nodes a square mile in the concept cities, said technology team leader Brent Grotz of IBM. The Metro Connect team -- which includes IBM, Cisco Systems, non-profit SeaKay and a smaller wireless provider, Azulstar -- will build and manage the network.

"We want to make sure we have enough,'' said Grotz, who has said he will take the project slowly to do it right. "This is where you try all this out and then you work it out.''