CLE PC - Lousy wireless
 

So the PC in CLE is pretty packed today for some reason. And the wireless signal is piss-poor; you can browse the web (slowly), but that's about it. Anything requiring a stateful connection is hosed (IMAP, telnet, etc):

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Ping statistics for 209.191.93.52:
Packets: Sent = 43, Received = 30, Lost = 13 (30% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 94ms, Maximum = 879ms, Average = 353ms
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That's pathetic. At least I have an EVDO card (with an average latency of 238 ms and more importantly, no packet loss).

Ive had problems with it many times, it just cant handle all of the people using it at times...

So knowing that, why don't they upgrade the infrastructure? You'd think with the club as busy as it always seems to be, they could afford it... that's an awful lot of $300/year memberships!

Maybe CoInsider can provide some insight into this problem?

What timing! -- I mentioned the poor performance of wireless access at some clubs to him just last night. The network at the DFW club was particularly poor. I've also had problems at SEA -- the wireless antenna is right by the copying machine and the door and the signal is extremely weak by the work cubby holes... Others have reported problems at ATL. EWR and IAH have always been superb.

It's gotten so bad lately trying to find a decent wireless connection that I finally gave up and just bought an EVDO card from Sprint. For $60/month I carry my own wireless with me. :)

I've usually had no problem at IAH, but last Thursday night the IAH C South club's wireless was pretty awful. The club had a lot of people on computers in it at the time, so that probably had something to do with it. I think at times there's just not enough bandwith on some of the PC connections to handle all the users.

Let's not complain too much. Continental was the first network airline to have free wifi in the clubs and unlike some others (AA, UA, DL) does not charge club members extra. I hope CO continues to make the right decision, instead of forcing club members to pay at least an extra $240 per year for wifi.

Interesting, I've never noticed any poor wifi performance in CLE, and I pay attention to these things. It has been a couple of months though since I've been there.

The last time I was in the CLE PC it was painfully slow.

The last time I was in the CLE PC it was painfully slow.

Agreed, but the club was packed because all the flights were delayed due to weather in EWR, which backed up everything in CLE. Usually, it is fine.

Actually, usually the flights are all backed up due to weather in EWR. At least, every Thursday night I've been through there for the past 3 months, they've stayed open until at least 10pm to accomodate people with delayed flights, and it always seems to point back to EWR. *shrug*

At the PC in CLE right now, 8:10 AM on Monday 8/14, and the wireless is crawling. There are a lot of people here, which explains it, but it is painfully slow. I'm too lazy, but I bet if I did dialup and it would be almost as fast.

I would have to agree.

I have been in there almost every Thursday night for the last 2 years and it gets very slow sometimes. A few times I just give up and listen to my iPod. Forget streaming your Slingbox or even checking your mail.

Perhaps someone should suggest that they power cycle the wireless gateway and/or add another gateway to improve capacity. Does anyone know if they use DSL or cable for their internet connectivity?

Well, if Massport has anything to say about it, we won't have it at all...

Who can we complain to about CLE's wi-fi problems?

Paging Dr. Bombay...Paging Dr. Bombay... :p

ahhh...I mean CO Insider! HELP!!

The problem with these clubs are not the people inside the PC using up the bandwidth, it is the people stealing the connection from the outside. I was on a project in CLE for 2 years and every time I went to the PC, there were a dozen of people camped out using the WiFi. CO should implement some easy policies that prevent people that are not inside the PC from taking up WiFi bandwidth. A simple entry password (like hotels utilize) could be posted at the front desk and bar to ensure that only members are using the PC's WiFi connection. Having no knowledge of the CO network and how the PCs are connected, I would also guess that excessive VoIP calls could fill the pipe as all the Cisco phones are likely using the same connection.

Sitting in CLE PClub now, and it is SLOW!!! just venting since I think I could have posted here quicker on my blackberry.

We are definitely looking into this. Stay tuned!

Thanks! Keep us updated!

I sincerely doubt this. How many people could possibly be sitting outside? At DFW the other day, the club was FULL and nobody was outside. It was very slow. I was there several hours. When the club emptied out there was still nobody outside and the network was still very slow, albeit a little bit faster. I use ssh terminal sessions quite a bit and the lag time between characters being entered and when they showed up on my screen was immense. Thanks to dan1431, I switched to the T-Mobile hotspot the airport offered and had blazing speed to do the rest of my work.

I am at the CLE PC and the speed is slow but not terribly slow considering that the club is pretty much full of folks on laptops.

Seems much better
 

At the CLE PC now. The club is relatively empty now (6:45 pm on a Thursday) however everything seems to be working fine. Much better than it was two weeks ago.

Ping results - 0% loss, r/t time in milli-secs: min=402 ms; max = 767ms, avg. 587 ms

Me too (I'm the one in the tie die). I got considerably better results today:

Min=63ms, Max=409ms, Avg=103 ms. 0% loss

But counting the two of us, it looks like there are about 10 people total in the club tonight. :D :D :D

Be lucky you weren't in the PC today from 4 - 5. It was so slow that I did dialup just to get my e-mail. It was absolutely unbearable this afternoon, and the PC was only about 75% full.

It was completely useless at 8:30 AM today; only a handful of people in the club.

Update: We have determined that the source of our slow wireless issue in CLE is indeed bandwidth-related. To remedy this, we've ordered a larger circuit (double the current size). So, in short, relief is on the way.

In the future, if you're ever in a Presidents Club and have a poor wireless connection, please take the time to report it to one of our front desk representatives. They do actively call in and troubleshoot these issues, and we do hear about them here at headquarters.

Thank you for the update - this is good news for us CLE-based folks.

Will it be upgraded to the G standard? That would help also.

Great News! Thanks!

I'm happy to report that the bandwidth upgrade for the CLE Presidents Club was completed earlier this week. They are now at a full T-1 (1.5 mbs), essentially doubling the bandwidth in this clubroom.


It will not. Without getting too technical, no matter how fast the device connects locally, it's only as fast as the slowest point. In the case of our clubrooms, the slowest point would be the circuit. For example, in CLE our full T-1 circuit is 1.5mbs (just under 1/7th the speed of an 802.11b access point). Therefore, no matter how fast the local area network (LAN) connection is, the wide area network (WAN) will be the limiting factor.

Thanks!!

Seattle PC Wireless Still on the Blink?
 

As per these instructions I reported the SEA PC dropped packet performance to the attendant on September 4th, about 10pm. There were three laptops in use in the club and the stats were horrible. She was very understanding and agreed to report the issue. Does anyone know if things are any better there in SEA?

I've not been there in a while, but when I was there I found that the closer to the door you were the better the reception was. The transmitter is in a closet near the club door, about as far from the work areas as you can get.

Seattle Report needed!
 

The attendant actually showed me the router in the cubby. I then positioned myself in the bar area as close to the front door as I could get. I doubt it was 15 feet from the router. Still terrible packet loss.

We need an update. Who has been this week?

Thanks ljderm, for reporting this to our Presidents Club attendant, who did indeed open a log. On 6-Sep, we addressed the issue by boosting the power on the access point. And based on a follow-up earlier this week, it looks like this fix significantly improved the wireless reception in our SEA clubroom. Thanks again.