LinkNYC’s Wi-Fi Hubs Are Now Live

It’s official: New York City’s homeless population now gets faster Internet than I do, despite my paying hand over fist. Am I being sensationalist? Of course. Am I lying? Not necessarily. LinkNYC’s public Wi-Fi hubs are now live in the Big Apple, and those free speeds will make you jealous.

LinkNYC announced last month that they were just about ready to deliver free gigabit Wi-Fi to New York City, and here they are. There are only four hubs so far, all of which have replaced decomissioned payphones, but many more are on the way. Bryan Lufkin of Gizmodo tested the speed on one of the hubs and got a download speed of 436.37Mbps, compared to a nearby Starbuck’s speed of 7.59Mbps. Both Verge and Engadget got plus-300Mbps results.

In order to use one of the hubs, you’ll have to supply an email address, which can (and likely will, all things considered) be used to send you spam. I personally think that’s a small price to pay for fast, free Wi-Fi, especially when you can just give them a throwaway address.

LinkNYC wants 7,500 kiosks across the city over the next 12 years. If you don’t have a wireless device, the hubs have touchscreen computers. They also contain USB charging ports, an emergency button, an audio jack, and two large advertising displays. The revenue from the latter will help pay for more kiosks.