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A comment on Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks.

Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by freeasinfree on Thursday July 25, 2013 @06:19PM (#6105351)
Google Wifi in Mountain View is horrible, I can't imagine this will be much better. 2.4GHz is always a shit-show in any major city. 5GHz is an option, but not nearly as many mobiles have it, and the available channels on each device vary wildly. Plus that would start creating noise for a certain WISP I have a fondness for and don't want to see them affected.
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Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by rdl on Thursday July 25, 2013 @06:30PM (#6105397)
I've never actually successfully connected to it on Castro Street, although I only ever tried inside buildings. I thought it had been disabled or something, I didn't realize it was just like that normally. :(
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Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by rhubarbquid on Thursday July 25, 2013 @07:31PM (#6105641)
You need a "WiFi modem" to use it effectively inside a building.
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Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by rdl on Thursday July 25, 2013 @07:34PM (#6105654)
Do you mean an external antenna with higher gain, and/or an outdoor antenna and internal repeater?
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Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by revelation on Thursday July 25, 2013 @06:35PM (#6105418)
5GHz comes with less range. As in life, there is no free lunch in wireless signalling.
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Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by jrockway on Thursday July 25, 2013 @11:23PM (#6106382)
Don't most working large-scale WiFi installations intentionally limit range? More computers talking to one AP is cheaper, but also doesn't work at all. So the question is: how much money does one want to spend on access points (and their locations)? If the answer is a lot, 5GHz makes a lot of sense.

(Also, how much does open air attenuate 5GHz signals, anyway?)

Edit: Interesting reading: http://www.qsl.net/kb9mwr/projects/wireless/pwr.html

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Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by eyeareque on Thursday July 25, 2013 @07:03PM (#6105518)
It has only worked for me when I was outside, but even then it was spotty. It would probably work well if you could mount a directional antenna on your roof of your house though..
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Re:Google will pay for free wireless in S.F. parks by pvdm on Friday July 26, 2013 @12:51AM (#6106679)
I could barely get a signal as a Mtn View resident. I'd regard this as just a publicity stunt.
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