Toronto Hydro Telecom OneZone
Mark Kuznicki
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomaspurves/363982286/
If you're out and about, try to connect and take a photo of your frustrated attempts. Upload them to Flickr and tag with "onezone" or "torontohydrotelecom". Go one better and geotag your photos so people can identify the location.
The head of Toronto Hydro Telecom sits on the ICT Toronto committee and I'd be happy to send him a link to the Flickr tag with the evidence.
--
Mark Kuznicki
Remarkk Consulting
email: ma...@remarkk.com
blog: http://remarkk.com
voice: 416-444-1243
LInkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/markkuznicki
Stephen van Egmond
> If you're out and about, try to connect and take a photo of your
> frustrated attempts. Upload them to Flickr and tag with "onezone" or
> "torontohydrotelecom". Go one better and geotag your photos so people can
> identify the location.
I'm not having troubles now, but I have found onezone an immensely
frustrating experience whenever I tried to use it.
For one, they have parked all their base stations on channel 6. Every
802.11 router on the market comes out of the box on channel 6, which
very few people bother to change, so onezone is subject to crosstalk
from all the open and private networks that are active downtown. That
seriously harms their performance.
There's a great paper on this topic : Channel Allocation in 802.11-based
Mesh Networks -- http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/braman/papers/2006-infocom-chnl-alloc.pdf
Finally, the one thing that stands between me and a working Net
connection is the onezone page and its SMS thingy. That page is 133k to
download, and with a spotty net connection, that can mean up to a
minute of finger-drumming. At the very least, the SMS phone number
form can load and be useful in the first TCP packet.
My $.05c.
ubiquit...@gmail.com
connect to OneZone at Sidney Smith Hall in downtown U of T. I get the
connection inside one of the classrooms and I see the OneZone page to
login, but I didn't actually put in my cell phone number yet. However,
when I move to the top of the classroom, the connection is spotty. I
also see connection when I come into Union Station on the GO train, but
then I lose the connection afterwards.
UbiquitousDude aka GadgetMan
http://www.the-gadgetman.com/blog
Deborah Hartmann
I work in the heart of the banking district, 121 King W, and their
target there is the financial community.
When I called for tech support because I couldn't connect, the first
question was:
"are you inside?"
"Well, yes, our company only has offices "inside" for some reason. And,
by the way, it's November"
The help desk had no solution for the problem of being inside.
--
Deborah Hartmann
Agile Process Coach
deborah AT hartmann DOT net
mobile: fouronesix 996 4337
"Learn the principle,
abide by the principle, and
dissolve the principle."
-- Bruce Lee
Mar...@cleaver.org
Yonge, at some Italian Cafe - the name of which escapes me.
It had spotty reception but it was enough to allow me to work (&
eat/drink) for the whole afternoon there.
I made a point of going back but that time it was just empty promises:
failure to connect. So I jumped back on the tram and made my way over
to just north of Parliament and College, where there was a place
called something like Java Cafe. I say was, it had closed down.
I really believe that the lack of free WIFI stifles independent
workers from getting out there and mingling.
If you believe that innovation springs from creative friction, how is
Toronto facilitate innovation if it doesn't provide cost-effective
places to hang out? It should be doing everything to get us out,
brainstorming with one another.
M.
--
Mar...@Cleaver.org
Deborah Hartmann
libraries - places to read, right? Sure, we couldn't have meetings
there, but it would be a start.
ubiquit...@gmail.com
wants to compete and attract businesses and spur innovation. If we are
to call ourselves Silicon Valley North, then we need to step up to the
plate. In Mountain View, there is already free Wi-Fi brought about by
Google. I was in Silicon Valley over the summer last year, and I feel
ashamed as to what Toronto says we are and what we have to offer. Like
for example, the TTC web site and how the web site really sucks. In
San Francisco Bay area, there is 511.org which is amazing and lets you
know what route to take depending on source, destination, time and
priority.
Check out my blog post on some of this stuff that I wrote at
http://www.the-gadgetman.com/blog/2007/01/waterloo-and-ottawa-gatineau-among-top.html.
Gabe Sawhney
way to my next meeting, but need to check my email first to find out
where my next meeting is.
Which led me to this thought: besides the conventional hourly or
monthly credit card billing, they should offer a prepaid per-minute
billing option. I'll happily plunk down $20 up front, then chip away
at it in $0.05/minute increments. They get to count the $20 as
revenue right away, which -- given the many negative reviews the
service has been getting, a scant few weeks away from when they're
supposed to be dropping the free service -- should be a good
incentive.
I like Mark's Flickr tag idea, but (following Stephen's lead) I'm just
as interested in people's successes with OneZone. Like Deborah
pointed out, THT (doing a total 180) is saying that it's an
outdoor-only service, but there are some good/convenient/cozy indoor
spots where a strong signal is available. I've used it with success
at Orange Alert at McCaul/Dundas, and the chinese place at
Baldwin/McCaul. (If there are enough of these, I'll start logging
them similar to how Wireless Bandit used to do...)
My main gripe with the service: it seems to really choke on Google
Maps -- concidentally the thing I'd most like to use OneZone for. I
think GMaps performs particularly poorly under high packet loss
conditions, which could easily be the problem here...
Gabe
Mark Kuznicki
Quick thought:
With the Wireless Cities Summit happening right now (and your own Wireless Toronto event), I think THT has a potential PR issue on their hands. How many people attending will attempt to get on and have problems? How will this affect the image Toronto is trying to project and the future success of OneZone?
You guys are independent experts who can offer perspective. You may want to get in touch with Amber at CityTV in case the issue pops up so you can offer that perspective.
mk
Skype: markkuznicki
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/markkuznicki
ubiquit...@gmail.com
I just tried OneZone yesterday at the U of T campus and I documented my
frustrations and have screenshots to prove it. When I have the chance,
I'll upload them to Flickr.
Here is the blog post that I wrote about it.
http://www.the-gadgetman.com/blog/2007/01/finally-got-connection-to-toronto-hydro.html
GadgetMan
On Jan 23, 2:24 pm, "Mark Kuznicki" <mark.kuzni...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Gabe,
>
> Quick thought:
>
> With the Wireless Cities Summit happening right now (and your own Wireless
> Toronto event), I think THT has a potential PR issue on their hands. How
> many people attending will attempt to get on and have problems? How will
> this affect the image Toronto is trying to project and the future success of
> OneZone?
>
> You guys are independent experts who can offer perspective. You may want to
> get in touch with Amber at CityTV in case the issue pops up so you can offer
> that perspective.
>
> mk
>
> > On 1/21/07, Mark Kuznicki <mark.kuzni...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > So...who's been able to get a connection on the OneZone wireless
> > network? I
> > > have yet to be successful. It seems I'm not alone. Here's a photo by
> > Tom
> > > Purves:
> > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomaspurves/363982286/
>
> > > If you're out and about, try to connect and take a photo of your
> > frustrated
> > > attempts. Upload them to Flickr and tag with "onezone" or
> > > "torontohydrotelecom". Go one better and geotag your photos so people
> > can
> > > identify the location.
>
> > > The head of Toronto Hydro Telecom sits on the ICT Toronto committee and
> > I'd
> > > be happy to send him a link to the Flickr tag with the evidence.
>
> > > --
> > > Mark Kuznicki
> > > Remarkk Consulting
>
> > > email: m...@remarkk.com
> > > blog: http://remarkk.com
> > > voice: 416-444-1243
> > > LInkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/in/markkuznicki--
> Mark Kuznicki
> Remarkk Consulting
>
> email: m...@remarkk.com
Carsten Knoch
msn messenger: carste...@hotmail.com - skype: carsten.knoch - web stuff: http://del.icio.us/netsrac
ubiquit...@gmail.com
we geeks, could go over and do their jobs and do it even better!!!!
GadgetMan
On Jan 24, 12:08 pm, "Carsten Knoch" <carst...@gmail.com> wrote:
> To weigh in here quickly, it seemed to me that the network infrastructure of
> it was actually fairly decent. The trouble seemed to be the cumbersome
> signup process involving a mostly broken web app and an SMS message. I tried
> it at University & Elm - got 5 bars of network connectivity but couldn't
> successfully use the signup servers. When I called support I was told that
> area of town wasn't supported. When I mentioned that I was connected to the
> network, the helpful helpdesk agent intimated that that was impossible, or
> unheard of :)
>
> On 1/24/07, ubiquitousd...@gmail.com <ubiquitousd...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi all,
>
> > I just tried OneZone yesterday at the U of T campus and I documented my
> > frustrations and have screenshots to prove it. When I have the chance,
> > I'll upload them to Flickr.
>
> > Here is the blog post that I wrote about it.
>
> >http://www.the-gadgetman.com/blog/2007/01/finally-got-connection-to-t...
> > > LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/in/markkuznicki--
> carsten knoch
> msn messenger: carsten_kn...@hotmail.com - skype: carsten.knoch - web stuff:http://del.icio.us/netsrac
Happy Hedonist
of problem with Bell's Wireless Unplugged...fairly stable connection
for wireless for 1 and 3 megabit - price point is a big high but this
is simply because it is a new product.
On Jan 21, 5:16 pm, "Mark Kuznicki" <mark.kuzni...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So...who's been able to get a connection on the OneZone wireless network? I
> have yet to be successful. It seems I'm not alone. Here's a photo by Tom
> Purves:http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomaspurves/363982286/
>
> If you're out and about, try to connect and take a photo of your frustrated
> attempts. Upload them to Flickr and tag with "onezone" or
> "torontohydrotelecom". Go one better and geotag your photos so people can
> identify the location.
>
> The head of Toronto Hydro Telecom sits on the ICT Toronto committee and I'd
> be happy to send him a link to the Flickr tag with the evidence.
>
> --
> Mark Kuznicki
> Remarkk Consulting
>
> email: m...@remarkk.com
Happy Hedonist
I do believe the city needs to have a complete wireless cloud.
Starbucks (while a corporation I won't support, period) does allow you
to spend endless time in their location to do work...but I think the
concept to deploy more "meeting grounds" in Toronto makes
sense...afterall, Toronto IS the meeting place.
Wireless clouds require a lot of commitment - generally not from the
private sector. Please do keep in mind - wireless IS wireless. There
are many technical challenges that you simply cannot overcome because
of the technology. It's not really someone HyrdoOne or anyone else
that can control it - they can try to minimize the factors, but it
isn't going to be perfect.
Data wireless connections get impacted by: voice traffic surges and
sun spots. Go figure.
On Jan 22, 10:53 am, "Mar...@Cleaver.org" <Mar...@Cleaver.org> wrote:
> I got Toronto Hydo OneZone WiFi to work at the junction of College &
> Yonge, at some Italian Cafe - the name of which escapes me.
>
> It had spotty reception but it was enough to allow me to work (&
> eat/drink) for the whole afternoon there.
>
> I made a point of going back but that time it was just empty promises:
> failure to connect. So I jumped back on the tram and made my way over
> to just north of Parliament and College, where there was a place
> called something like Java Cafe. I say was, it had closed down.
>
> I really believe that the lack of free WIFI stifles independent
> workers from getting out there and mingling.
>
> If you believe that innovation springs from creative friction, how is
> Toronto facilitate innovation if it doesn't provide cost-effective
> places to hang out? It should be doing everything to get us out,
> brainstorming with one another.
>
> M.
>
> On 1/22/07, Deborah Hartmann <debo...@hartmann.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > hahahaha.
>
> > I work in the heart of the banking district, 121 King W, and their
> > target there is the financial community.
>
> > When I called for tech support because I couldn't connect, the first
> > question was:
> > "are you inside?"
>
> > "Well, yes, our company only has offices "inside" for some reason. And,
> > by the way, it's November"
>
> > The help desk had no solution for the problem of being inside.
>
> > ubiquitousd...@gmail.com wrote:
> > > Interesting to note that I'm also having problems too. I've tried to
> > > connect to OneZone at Sidney Smith Hall in downtown U of T. I get the
> > > connection inside one of the classrooms and I see the OneZone page to
> > > login, but I didn't actually put in my cell phone number yet. However,
> > > when I move to the top of the classroom, the connection is spotty. I
> > > also see connection when I come into Union Station on the GO train, but
> > > then I lose the connection afterwards.
>
> > > UbiquitousDude aka GadgetMan
> > >http://www.the-gadgetman.com/blog
>
> > > Stephen van Egmond wrote:
>
> > >> Mark Kuznicki (mark.kuzni...@gmail.com) wrote:
>
> > >>> If you're out and about, try to connect and take a photo of your
> > >>> frustrated attempts. Upload them to Flickr and tag with "onezone" or
> > >>> "torontohydrotelecom". Go one better and geotag your photos so people can
> > >>> identify the location.
>
> > >> I'm not having troubles now, but I have found onezone an immensely
> > >> frustrating experience whenever I tried to use it.
>
> > >> For one, they have parked all their base stations on channel 6. Every
> > >> 802.11 router on the market comes out of the box on channel 6, which
> > >> very few people bother to change, so onezone is subject to crosstalk
> > >> from all the open and private networks that are active downtown. That
> > >> seriously harms their performance.
>
> > >> There's a great paper on this topic : Channel Allocation in 802.11-based
> > >> Mesh Networks --http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/braman/papers/2006-infocom-chnl-alloc...
>
> > >> Finally, the one thing that stands between me and a working Net
> > >> connection is the onezone page and its SMS thingy. That page is 133k to
> > >> download, and with a spotty net connection, that can mean up to a
> > >> minute of finger-drumming. At the very least, the SMS phone number
> > >> form can load and be useful in the first TCP packet.
>
> > >> My $.05c.
>
> > --
>
> > Deborah Hartmann
> > Agile Process Coach
> > deborah AT hartmann DOT net
> > mobile: fouronesix 996 4337
>
> > "Learn the principle,
> > abide by the principle, and
> > dissolve the principle."
> > -- Bruce Lee--
> Mar...@Cleaver.org- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -
Happy Hedonist
elevate towards some elite status - people do the best they can. I've
seen geeks who thought they knew everything but could not even feed
themselves with the power of their own intelligence.
On Jan 26, 9:53 am, "ubiquitousd...@gmail.com"
> > msn messenger: carsten_kn...@hotmail.com - skype: carsten.knoch - web stuff:http://del.icio.us/netsrac- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -