Well, having set down the challenge for myself in my inaugural post here, I guess today was as good a time as any to head downtown to the Town Pavilion and see if I'd fare any better there than ath64 did. Sadly, I have to say no. My AirPort's indicator is down to a single bar of signal strength. I'm not losing the signal and getting bucked off like ath64 did last summer, but whether that's due to my using a newer computer or something else, I can't say. I should point out that I'm located on the first floor just inside the Main Street entrance.
Anyway, the place is undergoing a rather extensive renovation (the food court upstairs where ath64 managed to find power outlets is gone) so perhaps they'll add a few more access points in the process.
And yes, they've still got that silly and superfluous Windows-only login page. Click the left button showing above the login and password prompts to bypass it.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
A small step for the Mid-Continent Public Library...
...but at least it's in the right direction.
Some of you may have noticed that all their branches are now listed as free hotspots on JiWire. Curious, I dropped in at the Blue Ridge branch to check it out. No, Ma Bell isn't gone, but by asking at the desk you'll be handed a card with a coupon code to keep her at bay. Whether the expiration date on the card (the one I'm currently using is supposedly good through August) is truly valid, or whether it'll work at any other AT&T location, I have no idea. Nor do I know if the code will work for more than one user (as did the single one AT&T gave everyone for use at all their non-McDonald's locations over the holidays last year).
I don't frequent play-for-pay hotspots, so it may be a while before I can provide definitive answers to the above. I can tell you, however, that at 6 p. m. mine is the only laptop in evidence here, despite all the public workstations being occupied (in fact, there's a waiting list for them).
Take the hint, MCPL. You've acknowledged now that you need free wireless access. The next logical step would obviously be to eliminate the barriers to usage, so the queue waiting for your desktops starts shrinking. You really should take this network over yourself and get rid of the hoop-jumping required to get on it. Remember-the easier you make something to use, the more people will use it. At the very least, post the coupon code with the signs (if it's universal) and make some mention on your webpage that your Wi-Fi is now free, even if it isn't entirely open.
Some of you may have noticed that all their branches are now listed as free hotspots on JiWire. Curious, I dropped in at the Blue Ridge branch to check it out. No, Ma Bell isn't gone, but by asking at the desk you'll be handed a card with a coupon code to keep her at bay. Whether the expiration date on the card (the one I'm currently using is supposedly good through August) is truly valid, or whether it'll work at any other AT&T location, I have no idea. Nor do I know if the code will work for more than one user (as did the single one AT&T gave everyone for use at all their non-McDonald's locations over the holidays last year).
I don't frequent play-for-pay hotspots, so it may be a while before I can provide definitive answers to the above. I can tell you, however, that at 6 p. m. mine is the only laptop in evidence here, despite all the public workstations being occupied (in fact, there's a waiting list for them).
Take the hint, MCPL. You've acknowledged now that you need free wireless access. The next logical step would obviously be to eliminate the barriers to usage, so the queue waiting for your desktops starts shrinking. You really should take this network over yourself and get rid of the hoop-jumping required to get on it. Remember-the easier you make something to use, the more people will use it. At the very least, post the coupon code with the signs (if it's universal) and make some mention on your webpage that your Wi-Fi is now free, even if it isn't entirely open.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
If your hotspot's ever been hit up here for connectivity problems...
...or if you're getting complaints of no backhaul from your customers now, here's a hint as to a possible cause.
Over the past weekend I experienced here at home what that great Occidental philosopher Yogi Berra would probably describe as "deja vu all over again." My DSL connection, which in a year and a half of operation had never failed due to anything wrong that wasn't on my side of the modem, suddenly reminded me of a couple of hotspot visits I've described here. You know the drill-perfect connection to the access point, textbook handoff of a good IP address from the DHCP server, so on and so forth-but nothing beyond that. Try to hit Google and Firefox grinds and grinds before timing out; open up Thunderbird and it's the same story with your mail and news servers and RSS feeds. I reset the router-no change. Plugged my laptop directly into one of the Ethernet ports on the switch-same thing. Well, so much for the AP or the switch being the problem.
And one by one, I eliminated all the other possible causes between me and the wall, except one-the dual-input DSL filter that the ISP provided with its self-install kit to go between the wall jack and modem, so the jack could simultaneously be used by the modem and a phone. Removing it and plugging the modem in directly brought Google and my incoming spam back in their full glory.
The filter's demise really wasn't a great loss, given that I only plugged it in so I could continue to have my ancient desktop computer's dialup modem connected to the phone line, but I haven't used it since I got DSL anyway. And besides, I still have a spare filter if I need it. But I relate this tale just to remind everyone of what I shouldn't have forgotten myself, after a decade of supporting end users: It's the simplest things that are the most likely to be the source of the problem.
So...if your hotspot's been dished here for anything that sounds like what I've described, or if your customers are doing the dishing because they can't get YouTube with their yogurt-or whatever-try removing your DSL filters one at a time, especially if you've got your modem plugged into one. You might get lucky.
And by the way, if you're an operator or patron of a location that has been cited here in the past for issues since corrected and you think it deserves a second chance to impress, so do we. Just drop a comment or e-mail any of the contributors. We'll come by and check it out when we can.
Over the past weekend I experienced here at home what that great Occidental philosopher Yogi Berra would probably describe as "deja vu all over again." My DSL connection, which in a year and a half of operation had never failed due to anything wrong that wasn't on my side of the modem, suddenly reminded me of a couple of hotspot visits I've described here. You know the drill-perfect connection to the access point, textbook handoff of a good IP address from the DHCP server, so on and so forth-but nothing beyond that. Try to hit Google and Firefox grinds and grinds before timing out; open up Thunderbird and it's the same story with your mail and news servers and RSS feeds. I reset the router-no change. Plugged my laptop directly into one of the Ethernet ports on the switch-same thing. Well, so much for the AP or the switch being the problem.
And one by one, I eliminated all the other possible causes between me and the wall, except one-the dual-input DSL filter that the ISP provided with its self-install kit to go between the wall jack and modem, so the jack could simultaneously be used by the modem and a phone. Removing it and plugging the modem in directly brought Google and my incoming spam back in their full glory.
The filter's demise really wasn't a great loss, given that I only plugged it in so I could continue to have my ancient desktop computer's dialup modem connected to the phone line, but I haven't used it since I got DSL anyway. And besides, I still have a spare filter if I need it. But I relate this tale just to remind everyone of what I shouldn't have forgotten myself, after a decade of supporting end users: It's the simplest things that are the most likely to be the source of the problem.
So...if your hotspot's been dished here for anything that sounds like what I've described, or if your customers are doing the dishing because they can't get YouTube with their yogurt-or whatever-try removing your DSL filters one at a time, especially if you've got your modem plugged into one. You might get lucky.
And by the way, if you're an operator or patron of a location that has been cited here in the past for issues since corrected and you think it deserves a second chance to impress, so do we. Just drop a comment or e-mail any of the contributors. We'll come by and check it out when we can.
Friday, June 15, 2007
We'd like to beg a favor...
...of our friends in the blogging community.
Over the past few months, I have at least twice noticed posts lifted from this blog showing up in their entirety elsewhere. While I'm flattered that anyone feels my writing worth copying, I would deeply appreciate being afforded the same common courtesy I have made a point of showing everyone else here. You have never seen me or any contributor to this blog do anything more than briefly summarize an article elsewhere and then provide a link to the original so that not only is that author's intellectual property respected, but you are able to read what they have written in context with the rest of their site. Better than simply cutting and pasting it here, wouldn't you agree?
I'm sure these instances were simply oversights by someone who knows better, and this brief mention will be enough to resolve the matter. Or at least I hope so.
Over the past few months, I have at least twice noticed posts lifted from this blog showing up in their entirety elsewhere. While I'm flattered that anyone feels my writing worth copying, I would deeply appreciate being afforded the same common courtesy I have made a point of showing everyone else here. You have never seen me or any contributor to this blog do anything more than briefly summarize an article elsewhere and then provide a link to the original so that not only is that author's intellectual property respected, but you are able to read what they have written in context with the rest of their site. Better than simply cutting and pasting it here, wouldn't you agree?
I'm sure these instances were simply oversights by someone who knows better, and this brief mention will be enough to resolve the matter. Or at least I hope so.
First impressions
I've been making the rounds with a new MacBook Pro for about two weeks now, and I've got to tell you that either Macs are intrinsically better at Wi-Fi or the manufacturers have all gotten their act together since I last bought a laptop. I have yet to run into any of the low-signal-strength problems previously reported here. In fact, I'm posting this from the Plaza Library-a place that has taken its share of licks from ath64-and my AirPort indicator is showing four solid bars. Come to think of it, I haven't been anywhere it hasn't yet. (I guess the acid test would be the Town Pavilion, right?)
Anyway, is what I'm observing indicative of what the rest of you Mac toters are finding? And how about the rest of you who've bought new Windows machines in, say, the past year or eighteen months? Ath64's recently deceased primary laptop was nearly three years old when it bought the farm; its backup, the poor radio performance of which has been mentioned here more than once, is a year older than that. Will bringing a new computer into the mix bring this blog's evaluations more up to date with regard to how easy it is to stay connected out there nowadays?
Also, are there locations anyone's visited where Macs-or Linux machines, for that matter-are at a disadvantage due to the way the network is set up? There have been at least two documented here-the Johnson County Library and KCI Airport-whose apparently Internet Explorer-only splash pages don't seem to be fully functional in non-Windows browsers. Although neither network denied a connection outright on this basis, I sincerely hope there aren't any hotspot operators cheating themselves-perhaps unknowingly-out of customers this way. If there are and I come across them, you'll be forewarned here.
Anyway, is what I'm observing indicative of what the rest of you Mac toters are finding? And how about the rest of you who've bought new Windows machines in, say, the past year or eighteen months? Ath64's recently deceased primary laptop was nearly three years old when it bought the farm; its backup, the poor radio performance of which has been mentioned here more than once, is a year older than that. Will bringing a new computer into the mix bring this blog's evaluations more up to date with regard to how easy it is to stay connected out there nowadays?
Also, are there locations anyone's visited where Macs-or Linux machines, for that matter-are at a disadvantage due to the way the network is set up? There have been at least two documented here-the Johnson County Library and KCI Airport-whose apparently Internet Explorer-only splash pages don't seem to be fully functional in non-Windows browsers. Although neither network denied a connection outright on this basis, I sincerely hope there aren't any hotspot operators cheating themselves-perhaps unknowingly-out of customers this way. If there are and I come across them, you'll be forewarned here.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Enjoy it now, while you still can
Muddy's Coffee House
318 East 51st Street, Kansas City
802.11g
SSID: Muddys Wireless
Again, charge your battery first. There's a two-outlet box on the wall at the front corner opposite the door, but I don't think I'd try using it even if management were approving, given that you'd be a bit close to the south-facing windows for comfort-especially at midday.
Also, unless you're a student, faculty or staff member at UMKC, watch out that you don't inadvertently attempt to hook into their wireless network, the signal from which bangs in here sufficiently to allow that to happen.
Which is somewhat ironic, since UMKC's expansion plans have put the future of the retail strip this establishment is part of in question, according to news reports.
318 East 51st Street, Kansas City
802.11g
SSID: Muddys Wireless
Again, charge your battery first. There's a two-outlet box on the wall at the front corner opposite the door, but I don't think I'd try using it even if management were approving, given that you'd be a bit close to the south-facing windows for comfort-especially at midday.
Also, unless you're a student, faculty or staff member at UMKC, watch out that you don't inadvertently attempt to hook into their wireless network, the signal from which bangs in here sufficiently to allow that to happen.
Which is somewhat ironic, since UMKC's expansion plans have put the future of the retail strip this establishment is part of in question, according to news reports.
I guess I ought to get back to doing hotspot reviews sometime, don't you?
The Coffee Girls
310 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City
802.11g
SSID: Coffee Girls
Two choices: Come with a fully charged battery or come after dark with an adventurous spirit, because the only power outlets I see anywhere in the place are in a power strip on the floor by the front table closest to the door-and closest to those big, unshaded front windows that are still giving me fits at past 5:30 in the evening as I sit with the back of my display toward them from perhaps ten feet farther away. On second thought, forget about the power strip, since they've got one of their window signs plugged into it.
Well, they do have a nice signal at least. My finder indicates you wouldn't have any problem connecting at one of the sidewalk tables outside, were you so inclined.
310 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City
802.11g
SSID: Coffee Girls
Two choices: Come with a fully charged battery or come after dark with an adventurous spirit, because the only power outlets I see anywhere in the place are in a power strip on the floor by the front table closest to the door-and closest to those big, unshaded front windows that are still giving me fits at past 5:30 in the evening as I sit with the back of my display toward them from perhaps ten feet farther away. On second thought, forget about the power strip, since they've got one of their window signs plugged into it.
Well, they do have a nice signal at least. My finder indicates you wouldn't have any problem connecting at one of the sidewalk tables outside, were you so inclined.
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