Free Wi-Fi
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
Free Wi-Fi
Supposedly we're to get free wi-fi services throughout the city.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/20051004_ne01_newsom.txt
I don't understand this wi-fi stuff, but can I adapt my old laptop to receive this wi-fi?
Anyone else have wi-fi services and what do you think of it?
http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/20051004_ne01_newsom.txt
I don't understand this wi-fi stuff, but can I adapt my old laptop to receive this wi-fi?
Anyone else have wi-fi services and what do you think of it?
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,140
Likes: 4
From: Oak Harbor, OH
It depends on the laptop. How old is old? What is the processor speed, what operating system and how much ram? Most the newer PCMCIA wireless cards I've seen require at least a 233mhz pentium, 128mbs of ram, and windows 98 or XP.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
pfogle, it's a 2001 Sony Vaio FX340 with Pentium III (850mhz)
256 Ram and Windows XP Home.
So I guess it should work.
Is wi-fi speed the same as cable speed?
Or is that question asked wrong?
256 Ram and Windows XP Home.
So I guess it should work.
Is wi-fi speed the same as cable speed?
Or is that question asked wrong?
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,140
Likes: 4
From: Oak Harbor, OH
Basically yes and no. It depends on what speed their systems run at. Even 802.11b is 11mbps. So if it runs at full B rate, then it's faster than cable. My Road Runner runs at 5mbps. I would think that the wi-fi would run between 1.5 and 3. I know that's a huge difference, but anything slower would cause complaints (even though it's free, people will still whine), and anything faster may not be cost effective for them. If you know the local company that is offering it i'd call and ask questions. They should be able to give a very detailed description of what the service is, how it works, and where it works.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
pfogle, I will ask questions as soon as it is a reality.
It's suppose to be city wide and free.
We'll see.
Thanks for your input, although I don't understand any of this techno lingo.
It's suppose to be city wide and free.
We'll see.
Thanks for your input, although I don't understand any of this techno lingo.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 24,418
Likes: 3
From: San Francisco, Ca.
Originally Posted by xuzme720
also signal strength will affect b rate. any idea how close your IP is/will be?
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Elder User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 560
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From: Houston,TX
the antenna will esentially be your IP. you probably just have to wait and see. as long as you get a decent signal, your b-rate shouldn't suffer too much. awhile back I was doing some work on these wi-fi systems, the ones that were being installed in McDonalds by wayport. we had minimal dropoff in the building area, but your system will much more area coverage with more people using it, which will also effect speed. just remember--no matter how fast it is it will always be too slow for some.
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Elder User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 560
Likes: 0
From: Houston,TX
as long as you're not doing anything that is huge in size, downloading movies,pictures or any really big text files, the speed shouldn't affect you too much. where you'll see a difference will be on graphics intense websites, trying to open movie clips, downloading programs, basically anything that has a large filesize. other than that, you should be very happy, especially since it's free. 
edit: some terms to help
802.11= simply a wireless protocol designation- at present 802.11f is current but all are backwards compatable-for instance...a 802.11b card will work on an f system just slower.
b rate=baud rate or speed. how much data is being sent or received or how large the bore of your information pipeline.
Mbps=a measurement of exactly how much information you send/receive.
sorry if I got simplistic with this. I just wasn't sure how much you DO know.
edit: some terms to help
802.11= simply a wireless protocol designation- at present 802.11f is current but all are backwards compatable-for instance...a 802.11b card will work on an f system just slower.
b rate=baud rate or speed. how much data is being sent or received or how large the bore of your information pipeline.
Mbps=a measurement of exactly how much information you send/receive.
sorry if I got simplistic with this. I just wasn't sure how much you DO know.
Last edited by xuzme720; Oct 4, 2005 at 08:48 PM.
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,665
Likes: 0
From: B/CS, Texas!!
There are many 'hot-spots' around town. You can go into starbucks with your laptop and it the NIC (card) will log on to the network.
Unfortunately, i live in the boonies, so i still got the ol ball and chain 56k.
. The only thing that seems promising to me is WiMax. Almost like Wi-Fi, but has a much more distance span.
Unfortunately, i live in the boonies, so i still got the ol ball and chain 56k.
. The only thing that seems promising to me is WiMax. Almost like Wi-Fi, but has a much more distance span.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 2,007
Likes: 0
From: Oregon
Everyone needs to check out the new 802.16 technology, WiMax.
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials...le.php/2236611
For those a bit more technical.
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/1...0216-02_05.pdf
For some reason it's not advertised much, but the stuff is out there. I contacted one company last year and the servers, APs and related, for about 2000+ customers was $35K, but the customers would be able to have T-1 speeds if they wanted. This could put a hurtin on cable and DSL, so I could see someone like google wanting to get their foot in the door.
http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorials...le.php/2236611
For those a bit more technical.
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/1...0216-02_05.pdf
For some reason it's not advertised much, but the stuff is out there. I contacted one company last year and the servers, APs and related, for about 2000+ customers was $35K, but the customers would be able to have T-1 speeds if they wanted. This could put a hurtin on cable and DSL, so I could see someone like google wanting to get their foot in the door.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,086
Likes: 2
From: Portsmouth, VA
Yeah the Mayor of San Francisco said that it's some kind of human right or something to have internet access. Glad I don't live there, just another way for them to try and raise taxes.
- Chris
- Chris