• (disco)

    Since @PaulaBean's gone AWOL again:

    http://thedailywtf.com/articles/getting-wired

    Paging @mark_bowytz.

  • (disco)

    Ethernet switches from each office were removed and placed in storage

    Because you can't have WiFi and Ethernet in the same computer at the same time.

    Now, TRWTF is doing this sort of stuff all-at-once instead of progressively.

  • (disco) in reply to Eldelshell

    NO NO NO. TRWTF IS ATTACHING DESKTOP PCs TO WI-FI.

  • (disco) in reply to aliceif

    But look, no wires! Except that black powered one, the USB one, one for the screen mounted on the wall...

  • (disco) in reply to aliceif
    aliceif:
    TRWTF IS ATTACHING DESKTOP PCs TO WI-FI.

    Unless you are in a place where you can't run network cables...

  • (disco) in reply to tarunik

    True. But that place had network cables everywhere.

  • (disco)

    TRWTF is using USB WiFi adapters. :trollface:

  • (disco) in reply to redwizard

    And how would you have extended PCI adapters?

    That's why all of my components are USB. My graphics card is 10 metres away from my PC

  • (disco) in reply to Jaloopa

    @Jaloopa, is your graphics card really 10 metres away from your PC? Why?

  • (disco) in reply to jkshapiro

    Ventilation

  • (disco) in reply to jkshapiro

    It's outside the window and sitting in a snowpile for better cooling.

  • (disco)

    A few years ago I was involved in what was to be the largest single wireless network. New York City Schools - All Buildings. Forget the exact numbers but computers approx. 250K, Buildings in the thousands, Access Points approaching 50K....

    Even back then, "good" access points monitored their signal as well as other access points to automatically adjust the radio power level to avoid the situation.

    So add just one more WTF to the article, of them not selecting quality access points, and instead resorting to the "wired wireless" solution.

  • (disco) in reply to mott555

    You have to keep it on the windowsill, snow does nasty things to the electron-majigs.


    Filed under: Never thought I'd link to an Erik Gern story.

  • (disco)

    I found TRWTF:

    Brendan rolled his eyes and decided to update his résumé in case he got involved in whatever Andy’s next scheme would be.

    He should have had his resume updated and out the day he heard about the plan and that anybody who pointed out the obvious errors would be fired. WTF is the point in waiting for the obvious failure to strike, wasting your brainpower thinking of a way around the ridiculous restrictions, and only after that, thinking about looking for a job that isn't insane?

  • (disco) in reply to Jaloopa
    Jaloopa:
    And how would you have extended PCI adapters?

    By running an extension cable between the adapter and the antenna, naturally.

    A metre or two of 50 Ohm RG8 should do the job nicely.

    Of course, if you bought PCI adapters without removable antennas then your name is Andy and you deserve whatever happens to you.

  • (disco) in reply to ufmace

    Bear in mind that anything up to 99.99% of an article on the front page is made up of whole cloth....

  • (disco) in reply to PJH

    Hell, I'm fairly certain this wouldn't even actually work.

  • (disco) in reply to DCRoss
    DCRoss:
    A metre or two of 50 Ohm RG8 should do the job nicely.

    +1

    I believe you can still get those through Radio Shack.

  • (disco) in reply to DCRoss

    RG-8 seems like a bit of overkill. It's rather stiff and awkward to work with compared to, say, RG-58, and the loss at 2.4GHz of 2m of RG-58 is only about 2dB vs. about 1.4dB for RG-8 — not a big difference.

  • (disco) in reply to TheCPUWizard

    That doesn't help when all the clients are blasting out 30-35 dBm each with no regard as to what the others are doing. Contention isn't due solely to nearby APs, but also due to clients stomping on each other in an attempt to communicate with the AP.

  • (disco) in reply to PJH
    PJH:
    Bear in mind that anything up to 99.99% of an article on the front page is made up of whole cloth....

    As a person who has designed a wireless network or two in his day...that percentage seems a bit low...

  • (disco) in reply to oesor

    That's when you implement physical TDMA by segregating each wifi adapter into a mini faraday cage and building a mechanism to rotate the AP's antenna through each section in the cage in sequence. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Bam! Everyone gets a few seconds of 100% access at 54 Mbs, right? :P :P :P :P :stuck_out_tongue: [spoiler]No. No it does not. At all.[/spoiler]


    Filed under: Old tricks for new dogs

  • (disco) in reply to redwizard
    redwizard:
    I believe you can still get those through Radio Shack.

    Not for long...

  • (disco)

    Network Upgrade Task Force

    Missed opportunity to have NUTS as the acronym.

  • (disco) in reply to PleegWat
    PleegWat:
    Missed opportunity to have NUTS as the acronym.

    Hmm, that was my intention, but it either got edited out or I forgot what I was doing.

  • (disco) in reply to mott555

    NUTForce is neat, too.

  • (disco) in reply to oesor
    oesor:
    That doesn't help when all the clients are blasting out 30-35 dBm each with no regard as to what the others are doing

    Now stop and think....putting all of the adapters physically close (allegedly) helped. That would contraindicate your position. In fact the "with no regard as to what the others are doing" is the basic flaw in your logic.

  • (disco)

    Probably could have just gone around and powered down 75%? 80% of the WAP rather than making a rat's nest.

  • (disco) in reply to redwizard

    Not for long...

  • (disco) in reply to dcon

    Nuts - you beat me to it

  • (disco) in reply to tarunik
    tarunik:
    Unless you are in a place where you can't run network cables...

    Where you can't run network cables... but where you can run power cables? I'm sure such places exist, but truthfully it's a very narrow scope. I mean, we're talking WiFi for desktop PC, not cellular service or WiMAX for some sensor out in BFE. Just how far from civilization are you expecting to put your PoE 802.11 AP?

    In my experience, wireless desktops exist where network drops could be run perfectly fine, but people decide they don't want to pay to have them pulled. It's particularly fun because then they complain about signal problems. They pick an inherently unreliable connection method, and then complain that the connection is unreliable.

    I worked with a school cafeteria where they had no name 2.4 GHz handsets, several microwaves, and the students have issued iPads, but they still insisted that the PoS systems be wireless. Getting a wireless signal in the middle of lunch was a joke. 50 student devices connect to each of the 3-4 APs every lunch. About the same number tried to connect and would time out. The ancient microwaves and handsets acted like signal jammers, forcing everybody to the 5 GHz band every few seconds. They tried to blame us for it. Nope, sorry. You were warned and you did it anyways. We told you wired network was a requirement. You opted for wireless anyways.

  • (disco)

    I'm still entirely unclear on how they got a "federal grant" to switch their network to wireless.

  • (disco) in reply to BaconBits

    If you're dealing with a rental scenario where you can't drill holes, running cable suddenly becomes quite a bit harder, especially if you have to traverse between floors...

    (My house fits this description, for instance.)

  • (disco) in reply to BaconBits
    BaconBits:
    forcing everybody to the 5 GHz band every few seconds.

    Then why have the 2.4 GHz WiFi at all? Most devices are capable of 5 GHz these days. I get better signal on 5 at home sometimes too and I live in a house in the suburbs with nontechnical neighbours (few other networks).

  • (disco) in reply to tarunik
    tarunik:
    where you can't drill holes,

    Heh, you're not trying hard enough! :) I've drilled holes in plenty of rentals and never got pulled up for it.

  • (disco) in reply to Zemm
    Zemm:
    Most devices are capable of 5 GHz these days.

    And of course, all stories happened yesterday.

  • (disco) in reply to boomzilla
    boomzilla:
    stories happened yesterday.

    I was replying to someone talking about iPads jumping to 5 GHz because 2.4 was getting interference from microwaves and ancient handsets. My suggestion was to just turn off 2.4, at least around the cafeteria to stop clients jumping between bands. All iPads support 5 GHz so it's really a cow's opinion.

  • (disco) in reply to TheCPUWizard

    Putting them physically close meant they were all broadcasting from a single location instead of distributed across the entire area and suddenly all the hidden nodes disappeared as every client of an AP was right next to every other client of the AP.

    That doesn't contraindicate what I said.

  • (disco) in reply to Zemm
    Zemm:
    Heh, you're not trying hard enough! I've drilled holes in plenty of rentals and never got pulled up for it.

    Ah, college days... and toothpaste.

  • (disco)

    I am always amazed by these people who think that anything they come up with is genius and anyone who disagrees or points out that they could be wrong is a threat that needs to be fired. You would think that an intelligent human would understand they don't know everything, that's why they hire people who do. If you hire someone who knows more than you and you dismiss everything they say, why the hell did you hire them in the first place?

    This mentality shocks me that people in business can be that stupid so frequently.

  • QBall (unregistered) in reply to ufmace

    Money, my friend. As long as you're getting paid, who cares? Plenty of people think that way.

  • QBall (unregistered) in reply to DocMonster

    I think laws mandating meaningful shareholder democracy would help. Right now often no one has an incentive to care.

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