At lunchtime, I went to Largo da Catedral, here in the Florianópolis Center, to test the wireless internet of the pay phone that the operator IO installed there and that emits free WIFI signal. As editor of DeOlhoOnThe Island, I have been following the matter closely – when the project was presented to Mayor Dário Berger, in 16/08, and when the installation was announced, in the End of September. The informed rules for use of the service are: 15 minutes free, after filling in registration, and navigation released for domains .gov and .jus.
To take the test, I used a New iPad – the one Apple just discontinued. At first, the signal was very strong: from the corner of the wide with the Street of the Illhéus it is already possible to detect it. I connected, and it seemed all right – even if the universal wi-fi symbol did not appear in the top left corner of the screen:
I opened Safari and typed www.google.com.br. It was a mistake. I went back to the wi-fi settings, disconnected myself from the network and tried again, and then the symbol came up. I returned to Safari and, while giving refreshment, the OI's registration screen appeared:
The record is boring, like most people, but fast to fill. You need to push the button. “Try it for free”, fill in all fields – including password creation –, type security characters and register. A “connection success” screen will appear:
After that, nothing worked out very well. At first, browsing between sites like Globo.com and Google searches opened very quickly. I tried to download a speed test application, but it was not possible – there is a possibility that because it was just hours away from Apple's event, the store was unstable. I tried to load the Instagram feed, and it went wrong. I tried to download a newspaper issue. Folha de S. Paulo- You're wrong. I tried to watch a video on YouTube last night, and it even started to charge, but it didn't. The website of Florianópolis Prefecture (.gov) also did not open.
I didn't control the weather, but all this was done in less than 15 minutes. Half that time forward, I realized at least two more people who seemed to be connecting smart phones to the network, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it didn't work. But who knows if with a few adjustments, or a sunny day (will know!), it works better? It's no trouble trying, always.
