Several weeks ago -- and three years after giving the gift of free WiFi Internet to its hometown of Mountain View -- Google met with Mountain View residents to discuss possible improvements to the network. In response to residents' comments, Google has budgeted for a bevy of improvements.

Google plans to extend WiFi coverage into unserved neighborhoods and increase the network's capacity. And at last, users can report problems with their Internet connection via telephone instead of e-mail.

According to Karl Garcia, the Google technician who oversees the network, Google has budgeted thousands of dollars for over a dozen new WiFi radios that will extend coverage into four private housing complexes and a portion of the Old Mountain View neighborhood east of Castro Street, where a lack of city-owned light poles had presented a challenge for Google.

And to meet a recent jump in demand for bandwidth, the network's "backbone" capacity will increase thanks to a fourth "base station" that will probably be mounted on top of the police station's radio tower.

The plans come as use of Google WiFi reaches its highest point yet: There are now about 19,000 "30-day active users" on the network, up from the previous all time high of about 16,000 over the month of June, Garcia said.

"People are definitely finding a use for the network," he said.

Also in response to the meeting with residents, Google is now taking reports about the network's problems via voicemail at 650-450-8491. Users may want to speak clearly as the Google operator -- actually a computer program called "Google Voice" -- transcribes the reports into text for Google employees to read. (Garcia said the computer doesn't always get the words right, so a copy of the voicemail is saved just in case.)

Garcia recently met with city employees who had some tips of their own for adding coverage to the area of downtown bordered by Castro Street, Church Street, Calderon Avenue and Villa Street. So far, that area has not been covered by Google WiFi because PG&E owns the light poles there, and wanted too much money to let Google put its WiFi nodes on them. (The city charges Google only $36 a year to use its light poles.) But Garcia has learned that there are a few "decorative light poles" in this area owned by the city that may work.

The Voice had received complaints that The Crossings, a large private housing development near San Antonio station, has lacked WiFi coverage. After a Voice story in June mentioned that Garcia was willing to work with the homeowner's association there, residents contacted Garcia at the meeting to begin the process of adding nodes in the neighborhood.

Residents and owners of three other private housing developments also showed up at the meeting to request network nodes, which they will now get as long as the owners are willing to sign legal waivers and pay for special installation costs. Mounting a node on a building can be far more expensive than mounting one on a light pole, Garcia said.

Also in Google's budget are two special WiFi radios that will be tested in Mountain View police cars. The high-tech, high-powered radios will allow officers to access the Internet almost anywhere in Mountain View, even while the cars are moving. Bandwidth will increase over the current cell phone data connection (which will remain as a backup).

Among the benefits, according to Google technicians, officers would be able to access video and file police reports from the field, neither of which is possible now. The City Council may decide to install a radio in every one of the city's police cars at a cost of $1,500 or $3,000 each, depending on which of two models is chosen.

For ordinary users, the Google WiFi network primarily works in outdoor areas close to any of the city's 500 light-pole-mounted nodes. This service level is due to the low-level power of WiFi connectors in most laptops and iPods, Google technicians say. But special WiFi routers, available for around $100, can be used to help a laptop or other wireless device communicate with the nearest WiFi radio through walls and over longer distances.

More information is available at wifi.google.com.