The not-so-frozen North

The Power Plant Brewery and Restaurant
Two Main Street, Parkville

802.11g
SSID: PowerPlant

Our first successful foray into the Northland (after a stop at one coffeehouse listed in several directories that actually has an encrypted network) is this cozy place, which, as its name implies, is ensconced in Park College's old power station. Given that it's a bar/restaurant, you really can't expect it to offer much in the way of laptop-friendliness, so the apparent lack of power outlets shouldn't come as a surprise. Well, it is dark enough inside at two in the afternoon to make LCD reading a breeze.

And yes, I know, Park College has been Park University since who knows when, but the building still reads "college" and no one's seen fit to change it.

Kansas City International Airport

802.11b at location visited (Terminal B concourse adjacent to Gate 50)
SSID: kci

Airports, of course, are like a character in Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow described Albania-a place where you go on business or not at all. Anyway, I decided that for the benefit of any of you who'll be cooling your heels there-the airport, not Albania-anytime soon, I'd invest the cost of maybe an hour's parking to check it out. Good that I did, because you need to be aware that if what I'm seeing here is any indication, this network's performance leaves a bit to be desired.

First of all, why is it still "b" and not "g?" That would possibly help matters a bit if you run into the low signal strength levels I'm seeing here. Also, there's apparently some kind of clickthrough page that appears to be Windows-only (i.e., written for Internet Explorer instead of being standards-compliant). Firefox pulled it up, but didn't display any text or graphics, so it beats me as to exactly what it was I agreed to. Well, they let me leave, so I guess it couldn't have been anything of substance.

Next stop was Zona Rosa at Barry Road and I-29, and the local guides that still list it appear to be giving us a bum steer as far as center-wide free wireless is concerned. Although several Flash Network SSIDs presented themselves, none of them provided me with an IP address. I've also noticed that any mention of free wireless has apparently vanished from Zona Rosa's website. However, there's at least one establishment here that has stepped forward to try and fill the gap.

O'Dowd's Little Dublin
8600 N.W. Prarie View Road

802.11b
SSID: ODowds

I had a devil of a time getting and staying connected, but I think this may be due to a problem cropping up with my built-in wireless card as opposed to the network itself. I've just plugged in my USB finder/adapter and it's connecting at the full 11 MBPS as opposed to 1 for the built-in. Connectivity beyond the access point, however, is still at a crawl. Anyway, the place is a standard bar/restaurant, so take that as an indication of its laptop-friendliness, or lack thereof.

Incidentally, for those of you perhaps new to Kansas City, Zona Rosa is not "very close to the airport" as some local listings erroneously describe it. KCI is still a good ten-to-fifteen-minute drive away under the best of conditions. Add rush-hour traffic on I-29 and things will go downhill from there. Just in case you were planning on a quick shopping stop before catching a flight.


From here, I initially headed over to North Oak to check out a couple of reported hotspots around Northeast 78th Street. One of them, The Perfect Cup, is sadly no more. Another looked like it was going to be crowded, and I really wasn't sure of its nature, so I decided to save it for later and instead head north to look at an outlying location I didn't have time to hit earlier today. Glad I did-it verified the problem at O'Dowd's was with their network, not my card.

Neighbors Internet Cafe
101A Smithville Plaza (east side of U. S. 169, just north of Route DD), Smithville

802.11g
SSID: Neighbors

How an establishment with a single desktop computer can get away with calling itself an "Internet cafe" is a bit beyond me, but the Wi-Fi is free, open and fast, so I won't argue. They don't make a half-bad chocolate malted, either. I should point out that the place seems rather religiously inspired, in case that's a concern for any of you, but if the connection is filtered, you shouldn't have problems with overblocks, because I didn't. There's a little alcove towards the back with at least one table next to a power outlet. And if you don't like surfing to live music, be forewarned that this is such a venue.

And so is that other North Oak location I went back to once more after leaving Neighbors. I decided to pass on it, however, after finding the parking lot still packed-and discovering they were taking full advantage by charging a $7 cover. Even at today's prices, stiffing teens for that much strikes me as somewhat exploitative, even if it is to provide them with a safe non-alcoholic environment. Indeed, that would seem all the more reason not to gouge them, if you ask me.

Maybe I'll go back and check this location out later; maybe I won't. Time will tell.