- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
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I actually rather prefer ethernet. Much more stable.
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.
I guess they’ll have to cancel their building like they cancel everything else they do.
Nah, they’ll just add a chat app. Then destroy it.
But unlike a lot of the other products they cancel, I’ll have actually known that this existed first.
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
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 …
These are done by architects rather than designers. Usefulness isn’t a consideration, only form and aesthetics matter.
Architects are designers.
highly skilled labor shortage and time. eventually ai architects will 3D print incredible stuff that is completely unmaintainable.
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.
Ok that is epic indeed
I think glass metal and concrete blobs are cool.
Those would be far more expensive to produce, needing specific skilled craftsmen. Not that glass production is easy, but compared to hand-carved wood and stone the labor hours alone is a staggering difference.
Guessing the building was designed by an artist and not an engineer.
The architecture world is crazy
Don’t be evilGlad to see Google is embracing evil even with it’s architecture now
They’re mostly soydevs, not network engineers.
The moral is – Wi-fi intensity 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 to add more mesh points. Not elegant but what if there’s no better way?
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.
Obviously they didn’t do a Wi-fi intensity study.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
I fucking love 👍🏻 architecture, gotta be one of my favorite genders
The two genders: engineers and architects
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
This is correct. As the article says employees are using their phones as hotspots so it’s not as if it’s a Faraday cage. Their IT guy should do a Wi-Fi site survey and install a few AC Pros.
I hope this is a joke. There’s no way a campus like this is going to deploy Ubiquiti.
No, they’ll deploy all the Google Mesh wifi cans…
ez solution. It just costs money for new design, hardware, installation and maintenance but holy shit google double check your build plans sometimes.
Those are great, installed them at the last place I was a trainee at.
Tell me again why are C-level and VPs paid so much? 🤣
L o l
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!
“Hold on, I need to move to the office on the other wing.” Cables everywhere.
Those things were always a twisted mess hahaha
Like we’ve gone full circle back to the corded-phone days.
What? When? Are gen-Z using corded phones now or something?
Read the comment I replied to.
Ok, you were being facetious too. Cool.
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!
Totally fits in the google idiotism that we got used to since few years. The enshittification started when that pichai become the CEO
Apple’s first ever wireless access point prototype was initially painted with metallic color. Not a wave made it through.
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