Communications breakdown
Oct. 31st, 2007 11:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bktheirregularIt's nice to be back in New York. Don't get me wrong.
One thing I've noticed, though, is that in this apartment, trying to get a solid internet connection is ... tricky. The building has a broadband connection that gets piped to every tenant, something to do with the university affiliation. Every apartment has one ethernet jack that plugs into this "fat pipe" connection.
That's part of the problem, actually. One jack. Oftentimes, it's hidden in a closet. And given that apartments generally don't have basements and such, the only realistic way to get a computer talking through that connection is through a wireless router or access point.
In a twenty-six-story building, with twelve apartments per floor, even if not every tenant uses a wi-fi access point ... that's an awful lot of radio transmissions. My laptop can pick up something like thirty access points within range of its antenna, not counting the network in the hotel on the other side of 62nd Street.
Imagine trying to whisper sweet nothings into someone's ear. Now imagine trying to whisper sweet nothings into someone's ear while you're in the third row of a Nine Inch Nails concert. That's what my connection's been like in The City.
It's a small thing, all in all, though.
One thing I've noticed, though, is that in this apartment, trying to get a solid internet connection is ... tricky. The building has a broadband connection that gets piped to every tenant, something to do with the university affiliation. Every apartment has one ethernet jack that plugs into this "fat pipe" connection.
That's part of the problem, actually. One jack. Oftentimes, it's hidden in a closet. And given that apartments generally don't have basements and such, the only realistic way to get a computer talking through that connection is through a wireless router or access point.
In a twenty-six-story building, with twelve apartments per floor, even if not every tenant uses a wi-fi access point ... that's an awful lot of radio transmissions. My laptop can pick up something like thirty access points within range of its antenna, not counting the network in the hotel on the other side of 62nd Street.
Imagine trying to whisper sweet nothings into someone's ear. Now imagine trying to whisper sweet nothings into someone's ear while you're in the third row of a Nine Inch Nails concert. That's what my connection's been like in The City.
It's a small thing, all in all, though.
