Cellular Phone Service and Wi-fi Internet Access on the National Mall

In the fall of 2006, the Smithsonian Institution will begin installing a Common Wireless Access System to provide extended cellular coverage and free public wireless Internet access for all Smithsonian museums on the National Mall. The new system will provide cellular coverage to all the museums on the Mall, including areas where it has not been previously possible to receive reception. The cellular system will be installed in phases, at no cost to the Smithsonian, beginning with the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian and will be completed at the National Museum of American History when it reopens in 2008.

Free Wi-Fi, public wireless Internet access is already available at limited “HotSpots” and the Castle’s Great Hall and the Enid A. Haupt Garden (adjacent to the Castle). Outdoor Wi-Fi access will be available this fall at the National Museum of the American Indian plaza and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Indoor Wi-Fi HotSpots in several museum cafeterias, auditoriums and conference rooms will be available in early 2007.

See more free Wi-Fi hotspot locations in Washington, DC.