The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership should be congratulated for completing a deal to bring wireless Internet connectivity into the area. When the network is completed, consumers and business people will be able to wirelessly surf the Web, get e-mail and do other Internet tasks without being tethered to a wire or a coffee shop.

For two wonderful hours every day, they'll have the benefits of the network at their fingertips for free -- or they can get round-the-clock action for a small fee.

But as happy as we are for local residents -- and for similarly blessed residents of San Francisco, Philadelphia and other cities bound for Wi-Fi glory -- users and government officials must approach these impending connectivities with caution. Ideas like this never give you everything you expect.

With wireless antennae on 50 points throughout the district, Pittsburghers will have nice coverage. But don't expect it to be perfect. After all, this is a radio-type technology; and radio waves get blocked easily. How many times have you tried to get cell phone signals in a grocery store, only to be unable to make a call? From the front door of the store to the second or third aisle, the signal strength falls quickly.

Remember, the expression is "more bars in more places," not "more bars in all places" -- although that might be a good catchphrase for party cities such as Las Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Do you realize how many Downtown office workers actually have to work because they can't receive their favorite radio stations in their high-rise offices? Unless a station streams over high-speed Internet connections, you probably can't hear it at your office -- because radio signals can't leap tall buildings and penetrate cold steel.

Do you think iron, wood, glass and concrete can't affect Wi-Fi the same way? Then you've never been in the front of the coffee shop trying to retrieve a large attachment when the Wi-Fi antenna is in a closet in the back of the shop. Next time you're in a coffee shop with Wi-Fi, look for business people doing the laptop shuffle -- moving their systems around to try to find that perfect spot with a good Wi-Fi signal.

Even residents of two-story homes have problems using their wireless systems throughout their homes. So don't think it'll be easy to make the wireless seamless in a heavily congested city that's as tall as it is long and wide.

Another type of congestion also will affect the speed of the network -- the number of users at any given time -- especially those who decide to listen to their favorite Internet audio or watch movies. The guy sitting next to you might be sucking up your bandwidth, making your Web pages load absurdly slowly.

Yet, even if it is slower and less universal than expected, it's better than what's there today -- and a step toward universal service. It's good for productivity. It's good for spirits. For the most part, it's also good for relationships.

I just hope that the politicians and the companies putting in the networks are ready to adjust when they find the cold spots and the heavily trafficked locations -- and that politicians and residents alike don't get angry if they don't get what they want right out of the gate.

This is one of those situations in which there probably will be as many bugs to work out after the installation as there will be beforehand.