I fucking love 👍🏻 architecture
Comment on Google’s self-designed office swallows Wi-Fi “like the Bermuda Triangle”
drawerair@lemmy.world 6 months ago
The moral is – Wi-fi intensity should be part of modern architecture.
I’m all for 👍 architecture. Just consider Wi-fi before building it.
asbestos@lemmy.world 6 months ago
doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml 6 months ago
The two genders: engineers and architects
steventrouble@programming.dev 6 months ago
The ideal way to handle this would be to add an EM absorbing material to the ceilings. The reflections off the ceilings are causing self-interference, and because it’s curved and complex, standard noise correction doesn’t work.
Natanael@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
To support MU-MIMO / beamforming (multipath signals for multiple devices) they could also just add more flat surfaces inside the ceilings to make radio reflections/echoes less complex so that the signal processing doesn’t get overwhelmed when the source is some distance away.
Plain absorbing material removes interference but doesn’t let you use MIMO tech as effectively, because the newer higher end routers can use those reflections to boost the signal
drawerair@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I thought of interference too. If the Wi-fi was bouncing all over, there may be many areas with destructive interference – weak or no Wi-fi.
fidodo@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It’s a Google office building, they definitely considered Wi-Fi before building it but they made a mistake. Compared to that building in England that turned into a glass death ray I think this was a less obvious mistake.
drawerair@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Obviously they didn’t do a Wi-fi intensity study.
fidodo@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Oh they for sure fucked up, I just mean that it was likely a mistake as opposed to them not caring. Pretty crazy for a huge corporation to overlook it though.
Natanael@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
I’m pretty sure the problem is the shape and reflections. This type of design creates echoes from many directions which makes it harder to pick up the signal at a distance
neptune@dmv.social 6 months ago
That was my interest in the story. Technology is so ingrained in our lives. It’s weird more furniture doesn’t have power chargers and other cords better designed into them. It’s weird our houses and electrical codes haven’t caught up.
But this is just a huge step back. Unless I’m unaware of lots of other new and old buildings with similar issues.
circuscritic@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
No, please do not start adding electrical components to furniture en mass.
If you do, I give it 1, maybe 2 generations, until furniture is subsidized by tech companies and it becomes niche to NOT have a “smart couch”.
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Funny you mention the smart couch because that’s the type of furniture that seems to come with USB charging stations a lot nowadays. But I hope most smart home devices remain a niche for a while. The open source and crafting community around them is pretty amazing and I’d hate to see it getting literally sideshelved for smart home prefabs.
drawerair@lemmy.world 6 months ago
In my country, from what I observed, not many study tables and work tables with power outlets. 1 may say, “Add usb-c sockets too.” But the future is hard to predict. Will there be usb-d? Will 150-watt charging be the norm? The safe thing to do is just outlets. Power bricks for phones are cheap anyway.
oKtosiTe@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Agreed. My work desk is barely four years old, and already its integrated USB-A ports and Qi 1 charger are outdated and basically useless to me. I’d prefer not having them. The power outlet is still fine though.
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Your batteries last longer with trickle charging. If you’re at the desk most of the day, USB-A and Qi 1 is perfect, and should be adequate for another 5-10.