"Make do" with ethernet? Charlie Brown, ethernet is the superior networking interface. People "make do" with wifi.
I'm enjoying ethernet on my phone too
I can tell that you're being sarcastic. But if I'm playing ranked match on my phone, it's always with an Ethernet dongle. Way more reliable and definitely lower latency.
People actually play competitive games in their phone? I thought that was just marketing spin so apple didn’t have to put graphics cards in their macs
It's absolutely making do. Having to plug an Ethernet cable in every time you take your laptop to someone else's office, break room or conference room simply doesn't work. Offices aren't designed for it.
Conference rooms, yes. Break rokms, yes. Offices? No. Use a docking station? Are you working solely from your laptop screen or do you dock and use monitors mouse and keyboard? Generally, there's ethernet attached, too.
Yes, but tell that again when you and 19 other people bring your laptop to a conference room and try to login on the network at the same time.
Different things have different strengths, and losing one of those things means your experience will be subpar.
I guess they’ll have to cancel their building like they cancel everything else they do.
They have to build it first and then use it for a few months and then demolish it
First they have to kick out the people who were enjoying it
That's the most fun part! We know you have been enjoying your new office and benefits (because we read your email), but please note in two months we will be discontinuing a this. We are releasing a new service you might want to try though, Google unemployment!
Didn't forget renaming
This is why Wi-Fi is annoying, I'll take a wired connection over Wi-Fi any day.
I'm just picturing you walking around a room on your phone with an Ethernet adapter and cable hanging out all over the place
This is how phones used to work!!! The cable was all spirally and you could get really long ones!
The moral is – Wi-fi intensity study should be part of modern architecture.
I'm all for 👍 architecture. Just consider Wi-fi before building it.
For this structure, I wonder if the best solution is – Just add more mesh points. Not elegant but what if there's no better way?
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.
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 partially subsidized by tech companies and it becomes niche to NOT have a "smart couch".
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.
Googlers assigned to the building are making do with Ethernet cables,
If I'm working at a desk, then I'd definitely rather have a cable than rely on wireless, regardless of the roof structure.
lmao sounds like they just need to all stand right at the spot where the parabolas of the ceiling have a focal point.
The parabolas' focal points are outside of the building, which incidentally is also the best place to be.
"Please return to the office. Or at least outside the office. We built the office inside-out accidentally"
Do you want a grilled human? Because that's how you get grilled human.
Reminder: this is the company that holds a monopoly on the internet and dictates web standards.
I would say aws is super important too lol
I bet there is a strong WiFi spot a few feet above the building.
Funny how there's a lot of wired vs wireless hate in the comments, can't really pin down the reason. Generational?
Wired will always be more stable and faster, whereas wireless is more ubiquitous. If you work at a fixed position, prefer wired. If wired is unavailable, well, you'll have to make do with wireless. USB-C dongles and docking stations are a thing, so the laptop doesn't have it argument doesn't hold.
I actually rather prefer ethernet. Much more stable.
Why do all thing need to look like these soulless glass metal and concrete blobs. Like bruh, why not build something cool lime a Roman Temple, European Castle, Viking Longhouse, Ancient Chinese Pagoda ...
Epic (software company) has a really cool campus near Madison, WI where all of the buildings are different styles of architecture. One of them is a giant dairy barn.
I’ll take access point bombing for 1000 Alex. I see several in wall and wall-mounted varieties in the immediate future of that place… 😂
The solution is more Unifi hotspots
Just make every ceiling tile and outlet have one and you'll have all the coverage you will ever need
Its funny that one of the monuments of capitalism has bad WiFi because the roof had to be very fancy and imposing.
Totally fits in the google idiotism that we got used to since few years. The enshittification started when that pichai become the CEO
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Reuters reports that Google's first self-designed office building has "been plagued for months by inoperable or, at best, spotty Wi-Fi, according to six people familiar with the matter."
At launch, Google's VP of Real Estate & Workplace Services, David Radcliffe, said the site "marks the first time we developed one of our own major campuses, and the process gave us the chance to rethink the very idea of an office."
The roof is covered in solar cells and collects rainwater while also letting in natural light, and Google calls it the "Gradient Canopy."
All those peaks and parabolic ceiling sections apparently aren't great for Wi-Fi propagation, with the Reuters report saying that the roof "swallows broadband like the Bermuda Triangle."
Googlers assigned to the building are making do with Ethernet cables, using phones as hotspots, or working outside, where the Wi-Fi is stronger.
A Google spokesperson told Reuters the company has already made several improvements and hopes to have a fix in the coming weeks.
The original article contains 301 words, the summary contains 165 words. Saved 45%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Glad to see Google is embracing evil even with it's architecture now
L o l
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
