CHESTERFIELD, Va. -- Chesterfield County has unveiled a new website designed to help citizens find publicly-accessible, county-owned WiFi locations throughout Chesterfield.
Public WiFi Access Locations websiteallows visitors to pinpoint and receive directions to nearby WiFi spots throughout the county.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has increased many residents’ reliance on reliable internet access, Chesterfield County’s Deputy Chief Information Officer Joseph Pugh said the new website was designed with citizens in mind.
“We are striving to provide essential services to our community that hopefully assist those most in need,” said Pugh. “Access to information online is just one of those opportunities, and we hope the map illustrates the most convenient points for residents to gain connectivity.”
While many public facilities are closed to the public due to COVID-19, the website also provides details on where citizens can park, stand or sit to get the best coverage.
At Bon Air Library for example, citizens can get good coverage from the parking lots both in front of and to the left of the library’s entrance.
To find a nearby WiFi location, citizens may type in an address and pinpoint a user-defined area of up to a 30-mile radius represented by a large, blue circle on the map. Note that this circle does not show the coverage area for a given WiFi signal; it helps identify the locations of the WiFi access spots themselves.
Currently, the map features over a dozen public WiFi locations accessible from outside of county buildings and facilities currently closed to visitors. However, when facilities are once again open to the public, Chesterfield’s Department of Information System Technology intends to update the application with all public WiFi locations across the county.
Public WiFi connections should always be used with caution, and citizens are urged not to access sensitive personal data such as banking information, medical records or credit card numbers while connected to public WiFi.
To view Chesterfield’s new Public WiFi Access Locations website and begin using the interactive map, visit www.chesterfield.gov/wifi [chesterfield.gov].
