Case Study: LinkNYC achieves secure, high-performance citywide public Wi‑Fi with GlobalReach Technology

High-Performance Public Wi-Fi for LinkNYC in New York City, Newark & Philadelphia

LinkNYC is a citywide initiative replacing payphones across New York City with Links that provide free, high‑speed public Wi‑Fi, device charging and access to city services in NYC, Newark and Philadelphia. The challenge was to deliver a secure, user‑friendly, high‑capacity wireless network at scale—supporting millions of sessions, encrypted connections and operator roaming/offload—while helping close the digital divide. GlobalReach Technology supplied the public Wi‑Fi service and platform for the Links.

GlobalReach Technology implemented carrier‑class Wi‑Fi with RADIUS/AAA, a custom captive portal, Passpoint (Hotspot 2.0) including an OSU signup service, and ongoing network management and analytics. The deployment enabled encrypted, instant Passpoint connections, seamless AT&T roaming/offload, and strong usage levels: peak mobile data offload of 400 TBs (≈100m sessions pcm), 5–6 million weekly Wi‑Fi sessions, ~60 TB weekly downloads and ~6.5 TB weekly uploads, while supporting digital inclusion during the pandemic.

LinkNYC