New Orleans has been having its difficulties, but in terms of wireless Internet, the city is leaping to the forefront of American towns. Private citizens in New Orleans have a refreshingly laissez les bon temps roulez attitude towards security, which tends to encourage access. From Ernie The Attorneys’s house in the Uptown area, for example, my laptop could see four 802.11 networks. All were free and open. It was almost like being back in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
The City of New Orleans itself is offering free wireless Internet throughout downtown (CNN story), even though this violates a state law (the phone companies have been paying off state legislatures throughout the United States to pass laws preventing cities from offering free wireless; New Orleans is doing this in violation of Lousiana state law as long as a “state of emergency” exists; Ernie the Attorney has some links to the relevant laws in his blog posting).
The free wifi prompted a hissy fit from BellSouth:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120201853.html
The Monterrey, NL, Mexico offers free wireless Internet in the city’s main square.
http://www.nl.gob.mx/?P=macro_inalambrica
Sorry in spanish, but al least you can see the map of the area covered.