For their convention, the Republican Party eschewed Wi-Fi wireless networks in favor of 40,000 miles of cables that feed phones, high-speed Internet connections, and broadcast circuits. . . .
Wi-FiNEW YORK (AP) -- The wiring at the Republican National Convention is rich enough to download the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in roughly 30 seconds. More noteworthy, though, is what the gathering lacks: Wi-Fi wireless networks for Internet access.

Max Everett, the convention's infotech director, considered Wi-Fi unproven technology that carries security risks and could interfere with remote-control technologies used by broadcast networks.

So Verizon Communications Inc. returned to the basics with cabling: Some 40,000 miles that snake through Madison Square Garden and the adjacent media center, feeding more than 5,000 phone lines, 300 high-speed Internet connections, and 140 broadcast circuits.

Thin red, orange, blue, and green wires jut out of racks of networking equipment hidden in one makeshift utility closet. Bundles of cables drop from the ceiling into skyboxes used by broadcasters. Wires poke through small holes on the floor of the main convention hall.

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