Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 95 posts

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#81

Post by adfm »

20after4 wrote: post #66
bonoboTP wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also applies to many other things, such as cars. But perhaps the timeline is shifted. But if we go earlier a bit, it was common for people to know much more about house construction, electric work, flooring, making furniture etc. IKEA emulates some of this, but it's really a different thing to live around things you truly understand, you participated in builting your house, you know how and why everything is in…

Brawndo: it's got what plant's crave.

It’s got electrolytes.

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#82

Post by qingcharles »

ghaff wrote: post #74
GuB-42 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also unsecure. I remember driving around looking for Wi-Fi to steal internet from, I routinely found network shares full of sensitive documents. And I only looked for open WiFi and wasn't even trying to hack anything. If I actually wanted to hack into networks, encrypted WiFi used WEP which could be cracked in minutes on a typical laptop. Most communication was unencrypted too, pwning entire WiFi networks wasn't even…

In the early 2000s hotels also still routinely charged for WiFi. But someplace like NY, you could usually find an open ssid within range. But, yes, in that period many WiFi transmissions didn’t have a password.

God yeah, every time I stayed at a hotel I prayed that there was a business next door with open WiFi so I wouldn't have to pay $30/night.

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#83

Post by xandrius »

danbolt wrote: post #27

When my parents had a house built in the early 2000s, my father was adamant that Ethernet should be wired to every room. It seemed like a good way to future-proof the building for the 21st century at the time. The year we moved in, tweenage me asked about connecting my Nintendo DS to the internet in order to play Animal Crossing online. I wonder if we would have done the Ethernet again if he knew that Wi-Fi was going…

I would still do this in 2025, just with different category of ethernet cable, that's it.

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#84

Post by xp84 »

mantas wrote: post #58
encom wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they used to say kids were good with computers. I think if you graph computer illiteracy vs. year of birth, people who were born around the 80's are in the bottom of a bathtub curve. The boomers are hopeless with tech, because they grew up without it. But gen-z is also hopeless, because they grew up with opaque appliances like Iphones. You use it how Apple allows you to. The inner workings of it are hidden behind…

I had similar revelation watching friend’s son asking him stuff about how to use cell phone. When I was young, it was always the other way around. And it still is, I keep helping my parents. But now I wonder if I’ll end up the IT guy in both generational directions.

I think we will, but I’m cringing harder and harder these days because my “clients” (friends and children) are often bringing me problems that are just unsolvable due to all the guardrails put up “for our protection.” For instance, “my iPhone says it’s full”

looks at storage stats

40GB worth of “System Data” and 20GB of Safari “Documents and Data” - zero visibility as to what it is let alone simple controls to get rid of it in a reasonable way. On a real computer, that’s the kind of thing an admin has ultimate authority over. Now, especially on phones, you may as well be a call center tech saying “Well, I guess you can erase the entire phone and don’t restore a backup?” because that’s the only guaranteed fix for most problems.

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#85

Post by xp84 »

bonoboTP wrote: post #62
cortesoft wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that’s true. I even thought about that when I was typing my comment but wasn’t sure the best way to articulate the difference, but I think you are right with it being about home internet vs cellular. Although I really think it is just used to mean “non-phone based internet”, rather than just home internet.

It means Internet where your monthly data cap is not consumed.

Haha, yeah right. American ISPs got jealous of Australian ones I guess, because most have caps now. With my gigabit connection I have a 1.25TB cap, so I can technically burn the whole month allowance in 2.77 hours. Yay “broadband”!

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#86

Post by xp84 »

moffkalast wrote: post #55
nytesky wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think people realize tha Wi-Fi is a brand name for 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'." WiFi, Wifi, or wifi, are not approved by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Despite common belief the name Wi-Fi is not short-form for 'Wireless Fidelity'.

Would an adapter in promiscuous mode technically be Wireless Infidelity?

nice

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#87

Post by justsomehnguy »

walterbell wrote: post #21
GuB-42 wrote: post #13

> A box the size of a paperback, and costing no more than dinner for two, magically distributes broadband Internet to an area the size of a football field. A card no larger than a matchbook receives it. An interesting historical document for studying the unit systems used in 2003.

What might be the 2025 equivalents?

Two powerbanks and a vape, of course.

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#88

Post by humanfromearth9 »

zer00eyz wrote: post #35
danbolt wrote: post #27

When my parents had a house built in the early 2000s, my father was adamant that Ethernet should be wired to every room. It seemed like a good way to future-proof the building for the 21st century at the time. The year we moved in, tweenage me asked about connecting my Nintendo DS to the internet in order to play Animal Crossing online. I wonder if we would have done the Ethernet again if he knew that Wi-Fi was going…

> I wonder if we would have done the Ethernet again if he knew that Wi-Fi was going to become so common. Today, if your wiring up a house you put ethernet drops everywhere. POE is a thing, and it's getting more popular. Cameras, blinds, MM wave... It's almost to the point where one should be putting a media box in every closet as a mini wiring hookup.

Close to the floor as well as close to the ceiling.

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#89

Post by delta_p_delta_x »

ksec wrote: post #64
lloeki wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, I see an increasing number of young-ish people that simply skip "landline" ISPs (hence WiFi) entirely and only use their phone. Mostly because around here you can have 100GB over 5G for less than 10€ + they mostly don't use computers (a.k.a laptops) except for a) school (where they have free WiFi+Internet) and b) binge-watching the occasional Netflix (and then they use connection sharing) Their first m…

That is increasingly true and will only get more mainstream as times comes by. Why pay for Home WiFi. ( Internet ) when you have 5G / Mobile Data. 5GSA will further increase Mobile network capacity, and mobile network will be all you need. MNOs will specially those without cable / fibre to home infrastructure are already promoting 5G home solution as replacement.

I wouldn't be able to do what I do at home if I had to do it entirely through a mobile network. I have a 10 Gbps symmetrical fibre-to-the-home connection.

Re: The Wi-Fi Revolution (2003)

#90

Post by bonoboTP »

ghaff wrote: post #75
bonoboTP wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the general decrease of trust.

Or just greater awareness of possible bad outcomes if you just leave your WiFi open.

> Used to be that every cafe and business just had an open wifi network. Now if they provide it at all it’s password protected

I reacted to this. Not personal open wifi. In cafes the password is often on the wall, in the menu or otherwise easily obtained.

Post reply on HN