In an growing number of Eau Claire city parks, nets aren’t just for fishing and webs aren’t just for spiders: The city recently flipped the switch on public Wi-Fi in Owen and Phoenix parks, and access is expected soon at the soccer park, too. The unadvertised-but-useful service began popping up at public places in town a few years ago, and is also available to those toting digital devices at Carson Park, Braun’s Bay, Fairfax pool and ball fields, Hobbs Ice Center, and Boyd, McDonough, Mitscher, Mt. Simon, Pinehurst, Riverview, Rod and Gun, and Roosevelt parks. Want to stream some music while picnicking or simply work on your laptop while enjoying some sunshine? Just log onto the public network (it’s the one named after the park you’re in). Over the past few years, the city has been adding the infrastructure necessary to provide Wi-Fi in public places so it can be used by the fire and police departments and for other city purposes, not to mention by people who rent the parks. To those who might quibble with the service’s price tag, John LeBrun, the city’s information services manager, emphasizes that the public network piggybacks on equipment used by the city, so it costs nothing extra. LeBrun adds that the Wi-Fi isn’t meant as a replacement for private Internet services, nor is access guaranteed. Still, what could make a day in the park sweeter than being able to tweet about it?