[wsfii-discuss] Steve Cisler on WiFi article in Slate

Wed Oct 17 15:53:30 UTC 2007

Maybe you guys want to comment on this? 
cc it to steve, pls

----- Forwarded message from Steve Cisler <sacisler at yahoo.com> -----

Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:34:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steve Cisler <sacisler at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fwdfyi: WiFi article in Slate
To: Patrice Riemens <patrice at xs4all.nl>

I wonder about the 77% use rate in St. Cloud, Florida.
One of the big problems for any system is that you
need an antenna on the outside of the house and then
drill through to the inside. Dewayne Hendricks, who
has been doing this since the early 90's (we did a
wireless project for libraries in San Diego in 1992)
said that the attenuation for wifi going through a
wall is very high, so the signal is terribly weak once
it gets to the computer.  

I just don't see a huge number of people using it
outside, even in good climates like Florida or
here--aside from those sitting outside in coffee
shops.

--- Patrice Riemens <patrice at xs4all.nl> wrote:

> 
> 
> bwo/thanks to Mike Weissman
> 
> Orig to Slate Magazine
> Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2174858/
> 
> Where's My Free Wi-Fi?
> Why municipal wireless networks have been such a
> flop.
> By Tim Wu
> Posted Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007, at 12:53 PM ET

-snipped-