PORTLAND, Ore. -- With no buyers in sight, MetroFi's free wireless projects in Portland and several other cities appear to be coming to an end.

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California-based MetroFi Inc. contracted with Portland in 2006 to blanket the city with a network for free, wireless Internet access -- the company's largest project.

But it was plagued early on by spotty service and according to some, a weak business model. MetroFi stopped expanding the Portland network last fall with the project less than 30 percent complete.

Recently, the company announced it would shut down most of its networks on June 20, unless the cities or investors stepped in to buy them.

No buyers have surfaced.

MetroFi did not return multiple calls and e-mails for comment. But the company Web site indicates it will shut down on Friday nearly all of its municipal wireless sites, which include Portland and a handful of communities in California and Illinois.

MetroFi's is not the only municipal wi-fi effort to go awry.

Earthlink abandoned a $17 million wi-fi network in Philadelphia earlier this month when it couldn't get enough customers. Local investors announced earlier this week that they will take over the troubled system and continue some free service, but add for-fee business as well.

Other smaller communities with free municipal wi-fi network services for the public struggled with poor service and speed.

Yet other parts of the country have launched tremendously successful networks.

Years ago, Hermiston, Ore., established what was the world's largest wi-fi cloud at the time, offering free access to the public and fee service for large farms and other businesses. Last year, Minneapolis tested the limits of its partially completed system during the massive bridge collapse, using its network to help keep city services running and emergency responders connected.

The key difference is most of the surviving municipal systems have relied on steady streams of revenue from the city or other large subscribers.

"Basically there are two tracks: the fatally flawed track and the successful but quietly executed track," said Craig Settles, an independent consultant and author of "Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless."

MetroFi, which Settles puts in the fatally flawed category, was designed with no buy-in from the city of Portland. MetroFi planned to finance and operate the network itself and make money from advertising on its free network.

To the city, it was a bit of a gamble to try a new means to get Internet access to low-income individuals but with little to risk.

"We are disappointed that MetroFi's business model did not pan out but glad that it was not a financial risk to taxpayers," said Brendan Finn, chief of staff at Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman's office.

Other cities were enticed by the idea of being able to offer residents a way to connect.

"It was the most impossible deal you could imagine," Settles said. "Every mayor in every small town would be famous for at least a day if they stood up on a soapbox and said, 'We are going to have this free service.' "

But the systems typically relied on advertising for income, and some businesses were skittish about the new format, particularly after it got panned by users.

And the drawback of wi-fi as a means of digital inclusion is that the best coverage is outdoors -- connecting indoors requires boosters or other add-ons that cost money.

As a result, cities are instead looking at a combination of wireless and wired or free and subscriber service to succeed.

"We had the high-profile rabbits and the rational well-planned tortoises," Settles said. "Years later the high-profile rabbits are dying and the tortoises are coming on through. They will be the poster kids for 2009."