How far will a wireless conection go?

Say the wi fi at a Panera Bread store
How far away should I be able to connect.
The reason I ask is that I work close by
and sometime need to check my email.
I guess I could just try it.
Thanks,
Kirk

Kirk Frei wrote:
> Say the wi fi at a Panera Bread store
> How far away should I be able to connect.
> The reason I ask is that I work close by
> and sometime need to check my email.
> I guess I could just try it.
> Thanks,
> Kirk
>
>

Each wifi source broadcasts as far as it will go. Some go near, some go
far. There is no general rule, except to try to connect. If your
computer can "see" the SSID, there is a chance for a decent connection.

....just a chance.

Q

Kirk Frei <fangoria@muscanet.com> wrote:
> Say the wi fi at a Panera Bread store
> How far away should I be able to connect.

Windows are better than walls, and Panera bread probably doesn't go out of
their way to make it easy for people outside the building to get reception.

I don't like the noise level at most Starbucks, so I sit in my car if I
need to connect, but sometimes I need to get just the right parking space.

I doubt that a standard laptop setup would get any farther than the
building across the parking lot, and then only at a nearby window.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:39:30 -0600, "Kirk Frei"
<fangoria@muscanet.com> wrote:

>Say the wi fi at a Panera Bread store
>How far away should I be able to connect.
>The reason I ask is that I work close by
>and sometime need to check my email.
>I guess I could just try it.
>Thanks,

There are several factors other than distance which may be more
important than distance. For example, what's inbetween you and the
wifi site (metal? wood?), how much interference is there, what kind of
antennae do you and the store have and if the antennae are directional
how are they pointed, ...

Try it, assuming the store doesn't mind and you're not sending
anything critical over an unencrypted network. If the signal is
marginal, you might try getting a better antenna.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Thanks for the replies.
Kirk
"Tester" <teest@test.org> wrote in message
news:3t37u2php7prc7j3j508cpb29694ivk8qk@entropy.or g...
> On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 19:39:30 -0600, "Kirk Frei"
> <fangoria@muscanet.com> wrote:
>
> >Say the wi fi at a Panera Bread store
> >How far away should I be able to connect.
> >The reason I ask is that I work close by
> >and sometime need to check my email.
> >I guess I could just try it.
> >Thanks,
>
> There are several factors other than distance which may be more
> important than distance. For example, what's inbetween you and the
> wifi site (metal? wood?), how much interference is there, what kind of
> antennae do you and the store have and if the antennae are directional
> how are they pointed, ...
>
> Try it, assuming the store doesn't mind and you're not sending
> anything critical over an unencrypted network. If the signal is
> marginal, you might try getting a better antenna.
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
>

> Windows are better than walls

Better? At what, blocking the signal? UV coatings on some glass do a
heckuva good job blocking a wifi signal. Not completely, but more than an
interior stick-framed wall.

Kirk Frei wrote:
> Say the wi fi at a Panera Bread store
> How far away should I be able to connect.
> The reason I ask is that I work close by
> and sometime need to check my email.
> I guess I could just try it.
> Thanks,
> Kirk