MetroFi Survey!
I’m posting this from downtown, using the city’s much maligned MetroFi wireless network. I’ve personally never had a problem connecting, but I know many who have and it’s gotten me curious. Is there a common factor among those who are able to connect or among those who aren’t?
And so, without further ado, I present the pseudo-scientific Metroblog MetroFi (Metro)Survey. If you’ve tried to connect, successful or not, take a minute to answer the questions below and post your answers in the comments.
- Have you been able to connect to MetroFi successfully?
- If you’ve tried multiple times, have your results been consistent?
- Did you have to do anything special to get the connection to work?
- What operating system(s) have you used (mac, windows, palm, etc)?
- What type of device(s) have you used (laptop, pda, etc)?
- Where were you?
- If you couldn’t connect, what’s your tale of woe? (i.e. Do you have any possibly useful details to share? When did the problems happen? Were you able to connect (in theory) but never got an ip? Did you get an ip, but couldn’t do anything with it?)
- If you did get connected, what did you think of the quality of the service?
p.s. If you can think of anything else I should be asking, post that too and I’ll add it to the list.
I’ll start.
1. Yep
2. Fairly, I had one incident where I wasn’t properly redirected to their welcome page. A refresh fixed it.
3. See above.
4. Mac OS 10.4.9, and some router firmware
5. Apple Powerbook (usually), and (once) a wireless router acting as a client
6. Downtown (SW 10th + Alder, SW 4th + Yamhill), and NE (in a room my parents were staying in at the Double Tree)
7. n/a
8. Generally, I’d say it was stable, but the speed was nothing to write home about. The fact that PithHelmet automatically blocked the ad bar for me, probably helps my impression a bit.
1. yes. twice.
2. nope.
3. bought a high-gain antenna. got lucky once.
4. *nix, windows.
5. desktop machine, notebook.
6. se 20th and locust. theres an access point twenty feet from my house, yet i still had to purchase a “solution”.
7. see # 1, but how can i bitch about free?
8. exactly what i expected. fast enough to do what i have to do if it works. i’ll give them time to work things out..
I was able to connect briefly at GoodFoot upstairs on Thursday evening. I was using my Phone/PDA – a PocketPC 8125 (windows mobile). I got their login page, but couldn’t get further…
1. Nope
2. Yes. They’ve been consistently bad.
3. I moved out of a restaurant, into the park and then closer to the transmitter.
4. Window XP
5. Laptop
6. South Park Blocks, near Safeway.
7. I guess technically, I could connect, because it showed up in my wireless connections box, but at most I got two bars, and webpages wouldn’t load. Not even Google’s homepage, which being so small I figured would load without problems.
1. yes
2. No.
3. No.
4. Mac OS 10.3.9
5. laptop
6. I’ve been able to connect in Pioneer Square, in the Peet’s on SW Broadway and that’s it. I have been unable to connect anywhere on the eastside.
7. I tried moving outside and even sat on the hood of a car parked under one of the access point but was unable to connect.
8. The connection was OK. Not fast but since it was free it was fine. I would not pay for connection speed that slow though.
1) NO! NO !
2) YES! YES!
3) NO / NA
4) Mac, Windoze
5) Laptop
6) Sitting across the street from Pioneer Square in my corner office looking over the square. No IP address.
7) Can see network, but won’t connect.
8) N/A….
1. Nope. I’ve never been able to connect even though I live less than 300 feet from it (so says the metrofi website).
2. Yes. It’s consistent.
3. Can’t connect to it (or even find it)
4. Mac (OS X 10.4.8)
5. Desktop computer
6. I’m downtown, across the street from Safeway – a block away from the Park Blocks.
7. I’ve never even seen Metrofi show up in my list of networks.
8. I’v never connected.
1. Yes, but only after trying several options.
2. Yes, no.
3. Had to go to external usb wireless device with builtin antenna to get consistant results. Used Hawking HWL2 Professional Edition – a dual Wifi Locator and External Wifi Adapter.
My HP Laptop with builtin Wifi connected ok and stayed connected even at low signal. A desktop internal D-Link N type PCI adatper can see signal (usually low, though sometimes good) can connect, gets 1 or 2 web sites ok, then stops working.
4. Windows XP Service Pack 2
5. desktop
6. Corner of 17th and SE Taylor, 1st floor apt.
7. Indoors. Signal is consistantly
Signal Strength = 45%-50%
Link Quality = 50%-60%
Move around in room some. Seems best signal comes from South toward Hawthorne.
8. Connection is ok, speed is reported at 11Mbps, but is no where near that in actual speed. I would guesstamate around 2Mbps.