Comments on: Wi no Fi?

By: Xcobar

Xcobar — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:50:36 +0000

This is a very easy problem to solve.

Examples: Just control the bandwidth available to each user on access point, or even use some service – like Open DNS – and avoid mass downloads.

By: rob

rob — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:21:32 +0000

Thanks, Jim – those links give me hope that there's light (or at least bandwidth) at the end of the tunnel.

And in case it wasn't clear, I think asking people to restrict their use of the network is a stopgap measure at best. It's usually easy in these circumstances to soak up bandwidth in complete anonymity, so networks are probably destined to be maxed out until either the wireless providers get smarter about distributing bandwidth, or (and this is the solution I'm hoping for) they get serious about beefing it up.

Which, by the way, I wouldn't mind paying for – provided I was actually getting decent wireless, and not the hiccuping trickle that most hotels usually offer.

By: Jim DeLaHunt

Jim DeLaHunt — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:59:42 +0000

OSCON is not the only conference which concentrates heavy users of networks. Leaving aside your challenge that maybe we should not try to use the network so much, there's the issue of supplying more network capacity. I can recommend a couple of good pages for reading. Serverfault, "Why is Internet access and Wi-Fi always so terrible at large tech conferences?". (Stories of what worked for PyCon 2009 and other places, and of what the issues are.) TechCrunch, "TechCrunch50 Had Internet And Then Some. Mariette Systems FTW.". (What worked at TechCrunch50, Sept 2009.)