Good Wi-Fi Network names

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > Good Wi-Fi Network names

MullardEL34: Sep 30, 2008; Basking in the cathode glow

Back when I worked Campus IT in college, I used to set the SSIDs on the on campus to off campus point to point wifi links i installed to "LongLines_ x" in honor of the old school AT&T Long Lines microwave relay towers that look loving cool/imposing and carried 50mbit worth of simultaneous voice, telex data, network TV backhauls, and military comms from the late 40s to the early 1990s.

http://www.drgibson.com/towers/
http://www.long-lines.net/

MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Jun 13, 2018

# ¿ Jun 13, 2018 07:32

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MullardEL34: Sep 30, 2008; Basking in the cathode glow

Uncle at Nintendo posted:

Did the kids call you Daddy LongLines

Thanks for my new home network SSID :discourse:

# ¿ Jun 13, 2018 07:52

MullardEL34: Sep 30, 2008; Basking in the cathode glow

Bruno_me posted:

most have been decommissioned, but a lot more of these than you'd think are still actively serving more remote areas, just with newer radios downstairs

this is from a tool I wrote to load and query the fcc microwave license database from google earth, looking at att/mtn bell/us west/qwest/centurylink's network in western colorado, where it's often cheaper to maintain and occasionally build relay sites than drag fiber through the mountains (also they may serve as a backup to fiber if a cut means waiting a day or two for the snowmobiles and helicopters to find and fix it)

compare to nebraska/iowa where it's easy to just put the fiber in the ground in a straight line:

(green = active license, red = cancelled/expired)

I went to work in a smaller central office a few months ago and got to spend part of my afternoon talking with a tech who'd worked on and around them for a couple decades, which was pretty awesome. fun facts: the waveguides (they use plumbing instead of cables) are about 1:2 rectangular, so you can easily and efficiently switch out/multiplex polarized 6/12GHz radios. those horns give you an effective spot size of like 30something degrees, so you have to use a fuckload of transmit power to hit those 40+ mile links. and to handle things like obstructions and elevation changes, they use 'passive repeaters' (big metal panels) to reflect the signals around:

in conclusion, the best ssid is WLA697

This is loving cool, you are loving cool, and Hogg Horns rule. I had no idea that some of the Long Lines relay network was still intact and functional. Most of the Long Lines towers here in NE Ohio that have been abandoned for years have very recently gained a second life as 4GLTE towers and relays for hospital and other commercial microwave networks. I went to Hiram College and have been watching the Shalersville Long Lines tower for years. It sat abandoned for years in the middle of a dairy farm and then 2016 came around, new antennas went up and the windows lit up and staid lit. along with new aircraft warning lights. My 4G signal instantly got better between Mantua and Ravenna.
Somewhat off topic but we really need a new YOSPOS radio thread.

MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Jun 15, 2018

# ¿ Jun 15, 2018 08:07

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > Good Wi-Fi Network names