BENTON, Ky. — Cyndi Hershey and her husband enjoy chips and salsa with a little surf on the side because both are never far from the Web. 

"We are always connected with our personal computers, iPhones, so were pretty network savvy," said Todd Graves. 

Now a new city network is keeping the connection going, even at restaurants like Los Portales. The eatery is located in one of several Wi-Fi hot zones the city provides for free. 

It's a connection that helps the couple keep lunch dates no matter where they are.

"When she's somewhere and I'm somewhere, we can see eachother like the Jetson's," said Graves of the FaceTime video calling feature on their iPhones, available only over a Wi-Fi network.

The positive surprise of a small city with a Wi-Fi network gives Shelly Morris more reason to come through Benton.

"It's a surprise because you wouldn't expect as small a town as Benton to have Wi-Fi or free Wi-Fi," Morris said. "Any time I need to look up something on the Internet or look up an address or phone number or that sort of thing, you can download it a lot quicker than if you're just using a regular cellular connection." 

A central server at city hall bounces signals to repeaters around town.

Police officers can use the connection to email reports, run searches and get work done on the go.

"Our job is to serve the community and to protect the citizens so we can't do that if we're in the office doing paperwork," said Benton Police Chief Tracy Watwood. "So, it's a valuable tool for us." 

Police can also use the connection to tap into the city's camera network. So, they can park in one place and still keep an eye on most of the city.

"The free wireless has helped us solve some crimes by being able to go back on the computers and view vehicles only having one or two officers out at a time," Watwood said. "It's a huge asset for us."