Cyber cafe: Coffee shop offers high-tech link for cost of cup of joe

Checking e-mail and surfing the Web is as easy as ordering
a cup of coffee at the International Coffee Traders.

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL Chronicle Staff Writer

With new wireless technology, coffee customers don’t even
have to plug into a wall jack. They can simply fire up their
laptop computers, insert a special "WiFi" card and pick up a
radio signal from the coffee shop’s digital subscriber line.

"My DSL service is plugged into this transmitter that sends a
radio signal out into the coffee shop," said Kristian
Bombeck, owner of International Coffee Traders. "You turn
your computer on and your computer recognizes that there is a signal in the building and it
connects you to the Internet.

"You can do whatever you want, surf the Internet. It’s all wireless so you can walk wherever you
want in the building," Bombeck said.

He doesn’t charge his wireless customers a single cent to log on, as long as they buy a cup of
joe, juice or a pastry.

Effectively, the technology has turned International Coffee Traders, just off College Street on
South 10th Avenue, into an Internet "Hot Spot," said Claude Matney of Bozeman-based
Madison Power and Telecommunications. He said this is probably the first of its kind in
Montana.

"Well, there’s a trend that you’ll see on the Web that is sweeping around the country," said
Matney, whose company installed the hardware at International Coffee Traders.

"Wireless Internet is becoming available in airports and coffee shops around the country and
around the world. … It’s a way to connect to very high speed without using wires or cables,"
Matney said.

Bombeck pays a monthly rate to Bridgeband Communications for the DSL line, but the
transmission hardware for the wireless service is a one-time investment of about $600.

"Our coffee shop has always had high speed Internet access and I’ve just been interested in
having wireless so the technology is available for the customers," Bombeck said.

Newer laptop computers are made with the WiFi card built in, Matney said. Older laptops are
either equipped with a specific port for a WiFi card or an adapter can be used. He said
lower-end cards can be purchased at Staples for about $50.

Bombeck rents WiFi cards and adapters for a $3 charge to customers who want to try out the
wireless connection before buying the hardware.

Since the coffee shop opened in September, Bombeck said about five to six people a day
bring in their laptops and plug into the DSL line. About 100 people a day use the store’s
computers.

Theoretically, up to 255 people could use the wireless service simultaneously, Matney said.
But Bombeck explained the store’s capacity is only 49.

"I predict by this summer they’ll be crowding in here with their cards," Matney said.

Kayley Mendenhall is at [email protected].

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