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Why PyCon 2010's Conference Wi-Fi Didn't Melt Down
jafo writes "There's been a lot of teeth gnashing going on recently about broken wireless at conferences. We just wrapped up PyCon 2010, with around 600 (out of 1,000) attendees simultaneously accessing the volunteer-run network, and response has been fairly positive. 2.4GHz (802.11b/g) continues to be problematic, but most users were on 5.2GHz (using 802.11n) and associating at 130mbps, with a 100mbps link to the net (though after the fact we found that 35mbps would have sufficed). My PyCon 2010 wrap-up reveals all the secrets of how we did it, including pretty bandwidth and user graphs."
Because of the notorious slow conference WiFi's I have learned a new trick...
I use 3G networks. Since I live in Europe it would be expensive except I get pay-per-day for the country and that averages around 4 to 5 USD per day. That is great considering I can get 3G within restaurants, in my hotel room, and where ever else... Beats having to figure things out with the Wifi...
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
Even though it's just a short report, it's going to be very valuable for anyone doing similar work, be it for a conference or for a more permanent setup. No textbook is going to protect against those "oh crap, why didn't I think of it before?" moments like some actual experience would, and this posting is the next best thing after actually having someone with experience on site. And this works for any field of applied technology, not just wireless networking.
So, thanks and be back with some more soon!
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What's wrong with "bps" instead of "b/s"?
"Per" is a word that does not work in all languages, whereas "/" is a universal mathematical symbol. Even non-scientists use units like km/h, at least in Europe.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.