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MDI Access and Draper and Kramer Inc., have announced that 1130 S. Michigan Ave. has gone live with the city's largest residential high-rise Wi-Fi system. With 656 apartment units, the 43-story building has the most units in the city linked by a single Wi-Fi system.

"This new solution at 1130 S. Michigan requires no wiring infrastructure in the individual units," said Bob Heiderscheidt, president of MDI Access, which installed the system. "From our Internet backbone to computers in the individual units, everything is wireless."

As part of the building's amenities package, each resident receives free wireless Internet access--without the need for a land-based telephone line, cable service or router. All a resident needs is a wireless-enabled computer.

Heiderscheidt said the solution is perfect for the typical resident of 1130 S. Michigan who is a college student or recent college graduate who relies primarily on a cell phone and the Internet to communicate and gather information.

Ten wireless access points--constructed on the exterior of 1130 S. Michigan--connect to a wireless "backbone" inside the building, providing "outside in" Internet access to all residents.

Heiderscheidt said this "outside in" approach enabled his company to reduce the number and corresponding cost of access points down to 10 from about 80, which would normally be required for a building this size if the access points were located inside the building.

Draper and Kramer is currently working on bringing additional properties in the portfolio "live" with Wi-Fi and is pleased with this progressive technology.