Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wi-Fi by Rail, Bus or Boat

Posted by michael on from the 24/7/365 dept.

securitas writes "The New York Times' Glenn Fleishman writes about the growth of 802.11x WiFi wireless Internet access on commuter rail, bus and ferry boat now that it's commonly available in restaurants and coffee shops. The article also has an illustration by Al Granberg of some of the techniques used to achieve ubiquitous WiFi in motion."

7 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Natural extension by daringone · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's only a natural extension of the hotspots popping up everywhere. Just a matter of time until anywhere with cell phone service will have net service... with the right provider.

  2. social implications by shackma2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder what the social implications of the growth of WIFI are. Coffee shops and cafes and trains used to be a place where people would sometimes sit alone, be bored, and sometimes start talking and meeting people. Now with WIFI, you'll be able to work whereever you go, could this have any sociological effect?

  3. hmm.. by npistentis · · Score: 5, Informative

    Isn't this the very same article The Register viciously assaults for being biased? Intriguing...

    --
    Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!
  4. Re:Security by daringone · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Hopefully widespread adoption of WiFi services fuels the market for wireless network security. I know somebody who can't use his WAP because his neighbors keep hacking his encryption.
    Well, it's not that hard when your settings are:

    SSID: linksys
    Broadcast SSID?: Yes
    Wireless security enabled?: No

    I don't think it's so much the need for more security as it is the need to get people to actually use the security that's already there. I know of no wardrivers (personally) that even bother with an access point that doesn't broadcast it's SSID, is not the default SSID, and has WEP enabled. They'll find someone with the above configuration and wreak havoc.
  5. Re:Security by MoonBuggy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The grandparent clearly said they're neighbours not wardrivers and that they're hacking the (presumably WEP) encryption. This is quite believable, especially if you're in a techie neighbourhood and the people in the next house can't afford to get 3Mbit broadband like you have - it only takes a day or so of capturing and cracking frames to gain access, a quite reasonable feat if you're stationed near the access point and have the knowledge of how to run a simple cracking program.

  6. GPRS for tunnels by Albanach · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here in the UK we have Wi-Fi deployment now operating on the East Coast rail line. Rather than caching data in tunnels, the train switches to GPRS and is supposed to maintain its connection to the net using the mobile phone networks which have had the foresight to start providing coverage through tunnels on main railway lines.

  7. the five percent nation of nipple clamps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My favorite part of the article:

    In the United States, nearly six million people commute daily by public transportation, according to the Department of Transportation.

    With an estimated population of 293,027,571 in July 2004 (from the cia world factbook)that means around 98% of the united states doesn't use public transportation.

    Anyone else have an estimate for some place in Europe? Denmark maybe?