Clearwire: Just Say No

[Tom Marshall]

> I was  interested in ClearWire but until they have a PCMCIA Card I can
> slip in my laptop It's just silly to cal it city wide access.

Given the issues I'm having with the signal at 0.25 miles from their towers,
I doubt that would be possible.  Even if you did get a signal at certain
places, the next issue would be roaming (handoff).  Then, when you got that
working, you would have to grovel to support and hope they opened the ports
you need for your secure VPN solution...

> Although, apparently the BestBuy Geek Squad have one in those bugs hey
> drive around so they can access the internet from anywhere. That is kind
> of cool. The A-Team would have had one in their van I'm sure. ;-)

Perhaps, perhaps not.  All that would really be necessary is a power
converter with 2 outlets and an 802.11 AP to re-broadcast the signal.  Their
802.16 modem only has two connections: DC in and ethernet out.  Nothing else
except 5 LEDs for a crude signal strength indicator -- no management or
status information at all.

Overall, I think you would do almost as well with a decent omni antenna on
your car roof to find open 802.11 ap's.  If you want a reliable wireless
signal, the only hope at this point is still high priced cell service.

-- 
Bulls do not win bull fights; people do.
People do not win people fights; lawyers do.
        -- Norman Augustine