Sleepless in Seattle? No, wireless in Westport

Kansas City Public Library, Westport Branch
118 Westport Road, Kansas City

802.11g
SSID: library

You'd think that this would be the least laptop-friendly of all KCMO's branches, given that it's located in the oldest building, and you'd be right, although not for the reason you'd imagine. Actually they have available a vacant shelf/desk of the sort provided for their own computers, with a cutout to pass your power cord through and six power outlets underneath, and seating for two. So, what's the problem? On every table I can see in the building, there are signs reading "Due to demand, library seating is limited to two hours per day." I dare not ask whether or how they really enforce this.

Assuming you still want to try this one out, there are either three or four access points, depending on whether you choose to believe my finder or the results of a scan I did in Linux using my laptop's built-in adapter. One of them is visible on the wall next to the monitor for the computer sign-up system. Actually in a building this small, one is probably all they really need.

Anyway, when your two hours are up, Westport offers plenty more Wi-Fi opportunities. Unfortunately, at least tonight, I couldn't count the first two places I tried among them.

First was Mesa Wraps at 4120 Pennsylvania (some local directories still erroneously list its former address across the street at 4129). No connectivity beyond the access point. Someone on the crew let slip that the problem had been going on "for ages." I guess the word had gotten round; mine was the only laptop or other Internet-capable device in evidence there.

I didn't have any better luck at Tea Drops across the street at 4111 Pennsylvania. This was really disheartening; their network was one of the first ones I was successful with when Wi-Fi really started taking off in Kansas City. Yet a couple of tries only yielded Windows' dreaded "Limited or no connectivity" response. Maybe everyone else knew something I didn't here as well. Once more, I was alone in trying to get online.

Discouraged, I trudged north on Pennsylvania, thinking that surely the third time must be the charm...and it was.

Westport Coffee House
4010 Pennsylvania

802.11b
SSID: Westport Coffeehouse

Sit at the tables by the windows in front if you need to be near a power outlet. Curiously, they're set up as a cybercafe with a couple of banks of desktop computers available for a fee, yet their Wi-Fi is still free and open. Interesting business model. Wonder how it's working out for them.

Panera Bread
4117 Mill Street

802.11g
SSID: Panera Bread #6

For some reason, this location closes at 7 p. m., but the network was still live. I can see power outlets under the windows on the patio, where I'm briefly sitting on one of the tables, but I'm not going to bother with plugging in to see if they're hot.

39th and State Line area:

The Crave Cafe
1615 West 39th Street

802.11g
SSID: TheCrave

It's small, cramped, and with live music on the outdoors patio a bit noisy, but if you're lucky enough to score a corner table in front, you'll have a power outlet available on the wall beside it.

Room 39 at 1719 West 39th was closed for a private party, so I pretty much did a "walk-by" with my finder. There's an open 802.11g access point that may be theirs, but I'd ask first to be sure.

Fric and Frac
1700 West 39th Street

802.11b
SSID: FricAndFrac

By the time I got here I was too sated with the chicken sandwich wrap, vanilla latte, and iced tea I'd had on the way to either sit and order anything or have a (soft) drink at the bar. So I took a walk through to get an idea as to whether one would find a convenient power outlet (I didn't see any) and then took up temporary residence on a stone bench on the Genessee Street side of the building to post this. Even from outside I got enough of a signal for a speed of 1 megabit per second, so connecting inside shouldn't be a problem.