The Roasterie Cafe
6223 Brookside Boulevard (southeast corner of 62nd Terrace and Brookside), Kansas City
802.11g
SSID: Cafe
I'd wanted to try this one ever since the buzz about it started, so needing refreshment in the aftermath of the Brookside St. Patrick's Day warm-up parade gave me my chance. It's been described as laptop-friendly, but I think that's a relative term. If the place isn't crowded you shouldn't have trouble getting a table next to the wall and a power outlet, but there don't seem to be an awful lot of them. Although I connected at only 36 Mbps for some reason and then for some other reason saw that speed drop to 24, it's still way faster than whatever backhaul they're using, so there's no effect on performance.
There's only one minor quibble, one that probably won't matter to the majority of today's Internet users, especially younger ones. For some reason, port 119, the NNTP or Usenet news port, appears to be blocked. Yes, Usenet has been largely supplanted by Web-based discussion resources, and it still carries a stigma in some people's minds as a rather unsavory place, although there never really was that much smut on it, at least compared to everything else, if you ask me. And certainly there's more dirty stuff on the Web now than there'd be available through what still is largely a text-based means of communication. Anyway, I'm mentioning this just in case it's a concern.
Oh, one more thing. Watch out for what appears to be a residential network whose owner hasn't even bothered to change the default SSID on their router, let alone set up their encryption. Methinks they shall come to regret that...
Saturday, March 11, 2006
No laptop? No problem!
I stopped in at the Plaza Library to update the blog while on the run this afternoon and noticed that their long-rumored laptop lending program has become a reality. Just show them a library card and a picture ID and you can treat yourself to the exclusive use of a Pentium M-equipped Dell Latitude D810 with wireless access to the library's online resources and the Internet, courtesy of the library's network. The downsides are that the machines use the same management software as the library's workstations, although instead of just 45 minutes of use you'll get 60, and the connection is, of course, filtered.
Someone I spoke with at the library says they currently have ten of the machines, and there are usually two or three in use at any given time.
Hmmm...now if they'd offer to lend you a MacBookPro for a couple of hours in return for joining the Friends of the Library, they might have something there.
Someone I spoke with at the library says they currently have ten of the machines, and there are usually two or three in use at any given time.
Hmmm...now if they'd offer to lend you a MacBookPro for a couple of hours in return for joining the Friends of the Library, they might have something there.
Wyandotte County races on (or at least tries to).
I just happened to see a report on another local blog that the newly opened McDonald's restaurant in the Legends shopping center development at Village West next to the Kansas Speedway has free wireless Internet, so I saved a day's lunch money to finance the gas for a drive out there and back for a Saturday breakfast. Sadly, I only ended up batting .500. I got the meal, but not the Internet.
Oh, the network is there, all right, and connecting to it was a snap. The problem was that it didn't give me a DNS server, so I couldn't go anywhere. The manager, an affable chap, offered what help he could ("Well, it was working earlier this week. I guess I'll have to call it in.").
While I sympathize with the manager-after all, he is a restaurant manager, not a system administrator-I was really disappointed at not getting a chance to sing the praises of yet another McDonald's doing more for its customers than for corporate conformity. Not only that, but in Wyandotte County-perhaps the most underserved part of the metro. I certainly hope this effort generates some momentum that results not only in more free open hotspots nearby, but carries towards the east and really starts shrinking the digital divide. For one thing, maybe the KCK Public Library will unwire its West Wyandotte branch. The building already has carrels wired for power; why not go the next step and let patrons who tote in their own laptops and thus help save scarce library workstations for those who really need them have the same access to the Internet and library resources?
And if I can have the manager's attention for a moment: I don't mean this as criticism, but advice. I realize, as I pointed out in the previous paragraph, that your expertise is in food service management and not information technology. However, I hope you realize that the strategic goals that prompted you to offer free Wi-Fi dictate that whatever you have to do to keep outages like this from becoming commonplace, you need to do-and FAST. Running a free hotspot really can and will do everything you think it can for you. There's only one way that will happen, though. You simply cannot afford to let your network get a reputation for being unreliable. Not many people are going to make a second trip to a hotspot they find has gone cold-and none will make a third.
Since I don't plan on skipping another lunch anytime soon, I won't be doing a full evaluation of this one. Any of you who make it by there once it comes back up are welcome to fill us in on what you find. The restaurant, by the way, is on the southeast corner of 106th and Parallel, right behind the Legends 14 theater. The access point is 802.11g and the SSID is KCSpeedway_McDonald's. Also, the report I read mentioned an SSID from another nearby restaurant, and cautioned against connecting to it by mistake. There is a weak signal that my finder couldn't pick up but my laptop's built-in card could which may be what the author is referring to, but the only other unencrypted networks I saw were for Wayport and Freedomlink locations, both of which are, of course, play-for-pay and rather difficult to log onto by mistake, unless you're a hopeless spendthrift.
Then again, if you're a hopeless spendthrift, you're probably too busy shopping to be sitting there reading this.
Oh, the network is there, all right, and connecting to it was a snap. The problem was that it didn't give me a DNS server, so I couldn't go anywhere. The manager, an affable chap, offered what help he could ("Well, it was working earlier this week. I guess I'll have to call it in.").
While I sympathize with the manager-after all, he is a restaurant manager, not a system administrator-I was really disappointed at not getting a chance to sing the praises of yet another McDonald's doing more for its customers than for corporate conformity. Not only that, but in Wyandotte County-perhaps the most underserved part of the metro. I certainly hope this effort generates some momentum that results not only in more free open hotspots nearby, but carries towards the east and really starts shrinking the digital divide. For one thing, maybe the KCK Public Library will unwire its West Wyandotte branch. The building already has carrels wired for power; why not go the next step and let patrons who tote in their own laptops and thus help save scarce library workstations for those who really need them have the same access to the Internet and library resources?
And if I can have the manager's attention for a moment: I don't mean this as criticism, but advice. I realize, as I pointed out in the previous paragraph, that your expertise is in food service management and not information technology. However, I hope you realize that the strategic goals that prompted you to offer free Wi-Fi dictate that whatever you have to do to keep outages like this from becoming commonplace, you need to do-and FAST. Running a free hotspot really can and will do everything you think it can for you. There's only one way that will happen, though. You simply cannot afford to let your network get a reputation for being unreliable. Not many people are going to make a second trip to a hotspot they find has gone cold-and none will make a third.
Since I don't plan on skipping another lunch anytime soon, I won't be doing a full evaluation of this one. Any of you who make it by there once it comes back up are welcome to fill us in on what you find. The restaurant, by the way, is on the southeast corner of 106th and Parallel, right behind the Legends 14 theater. The access point is 802.11g and the SSID is KCSpeedway_McDonald's. Also, the report I read mentioned an SSID from another nearby restaurant, and cautioned against connecting to it by mistake. There is a weak signal that my finder couldn't pick up but my laptop's built-in card could which may be what the author is referring to, but the only other unencrypted networks I saw were for Wayport and Freedomlink locations, both of which are, of course, play-for-pay and rather difficult to log onto by mistake, unless you're a hopeless spendthrift.
Then again, if you're a hopeless spendthrift, you're probably too busy shopping to be sitting there reading this.
Friday, March 10, 2006
After that last post, I needed a break-and found one.
Homer's Coffee House
7126 W. 80th, Overland Park
802.11b
SSID: Homers
First, the caveats: There's an open 802.11b network owned by a nearby car dealership (you'll be able to tell from the SSID) that you may inadvertently connect to instead of the coffeehouse's if you're not careful. Also, if you need to be near a power outlet, the only ones I saw were by the tables along the back wall. Finally, the place can be a bit noisy when it's crowded-as it is at around 7 p. m. Friday as I'm writing this. They also have live music as a draw, so if trying to work to that isn't your cup of tea-oh, excuse me, coffee-keep that in mind.
With that out of the way, the signal is strong, the connection fast and stable, and I was pleased to find out upon finally being able to update my Spybot that they indeed did release a new definition file today-one that provides protection from an additional thirty exploits. And to think I almost went to another Johnson County Library location instead.
7126 W. 80th, Overland Park
802.11b
SSID: Homers
First, the caveats: There's an open 802.11b network owned by a nearby car dealership (you'll be able to tell from the SSID) that you may inadvertently connect to instead of the coffeehouse's if you're not careful. Also, if you need to be near a power outlet, the only ones I saw were by the tables along the back wall. Finally, the place can be a bit noisy when it's crowded-as it is at around 7 p. m. Friday as I'm writing this. They also have live music as a draw, so if trying to work to that isn't your cup of tea-oh, excuse me, coffee-keep that in mind.
With that out of the way, the signal is strong, the connection fast and stable, and I was pleased to find out upon finally being able to update my Spybot that they indeed did release a new definition file today-one that provides protection from an additional thirty exploits. And to think I almost went to another Johnson County Library location instead.
Some things don't get better with age...
...and unfortunately, the Johnson County Library's wireless network is among them.
I stopped in at the Central Resource Library on another research errand and decided to haul my laptop along just to see if there's been any improvement in their Wi-Fi's dismal level of usability and performance, which I detailed last October. Believe it or not, it seems to have only gotten worse. Their DansGuardian filtering implementation has reached the point of being simply ridiculous. For instance, I was on TV Guide's website and couldn't even access different dates in the online listings grid. Gee, with more and more laptops doubling as digital video recorders these days, that's sure to make the library more popular with patrons.
And if you're a Windows user running Spybot for anti-malware protection, you should still be cautious about spending too much time on this network. Although the free versions of AVG Anti-Virus and Ad-Aware can now update themselves through this connection, access to the update servers for Spybot is still blocked. The potential threat this poses-especially in today's environment with its increasing number of "zero-day"exploits that are discovered only once they actually start hosing computers-to anyone using a public broadband network should be obvious. Apparenty, to whomever is administering this network, it's not.
All right, I'll spell it out. Spybot provides real-time protection the same way a firewall or an an anti-virus program does; it starts when the computer does and runs continuously while the computer is running. Preventing it from updating itself, or preventing the laptop owner from doing so manually by blocking access to the update servers will eventually create the same vulnerability as running an anti-virus program with outdated definitions. Sooner or later, a new exploit will find its way onto a computer before the updated definition file designed to combat it does. Well, is the risk obvious now?
If anyone with the library would care to attempt to justify any of this, feel free to leave a comment.
And if you're a Johnson County resident, taxpayer, or voter, I'd like to ask you something. Is this really the best you can do?
I stopped in at the Central Resource Library on another research errand and decided to haul my laptop along just to see if there's been any improvement in their Wi-Fi's dismal level of usability and performance, which I detailed last October. Believe it or not, it seems to have only gotten worse. Their DansGuardian filtering implementation has reached the point of being simply ridiculous. For instance, I was on TV Guide's website and couldn't even access different dates in the online listings grid. Gee, with more and more laptops doubling as digital video recorders these days, that's sure to make the library more popular with patrons.
And if you're a Windows user running Spybot for anti-malware protection, you should still be cautious about spending too much time on this network. Although the free versions of AVG Anti-Virus and Ad-Aware can now update themselves through this connection, access to the update servers for Spybot is still blocked. The potential threat this poses-especially in today's environment with its increasing number of "zero-day"exploits that are discovered only once they actually start hosing computers-to anyone using a public broadband network should be obvious. Apparenty, to whomever is administering this network, it's not.
All right, I'll spell it out. Spybot provides real-time protection the same way a firewall or an an anti-virus program does; it starts when the computer does and runs continuously while the computer is running. Preventing it from updating itself, or preventing the laptop owner from doing so manually by blocking access to the update servers will eventually create the same vulnerability as running an anti-virus program with outdated definitions. Sooner or later, a new exploit will find its way onto a computer before the updated definition file designed to combat it does. Well, is the risk obvious now?
If anyone with the library would care to attempt to justify any of this, feel free to leave a comment.
And if you're a Johnson County resident, taxpayer, or voter, I'd like to ask you something. Is this really the best you can do?
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