Panera Wi-Fi

I went to a Panera in Chicago to test this out -- this is the first time
I've tried wi-fi in a commercial establishment. I got the instructions
pamphlet and it said I had to (1) change the SSID to "panera"; (2) make sure
connection is configured to "infrastructure" [it was]; and (3) make sure WEP
is disabled [it was] -- then reboot.

I did so and I still could not connect. the one last thing I tried is to
change the channel to 11 ( have mine at home hard-coded to another channel),
although the one guy there who "knew what he was doing" didn't have any idea
what channel they were broadcasting on.

has anyone else in here had similar trouble at panera or other wi-fi
establishments, even when following all the instructions exactly as they lay
them out?

Thanks.

Chuck

On 2/11/03 6:20 pm, in article
(E-Mail Removed), "Chuck Hildebrandt"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I went to a Panera in Chicago to test this out -- this is the first time
> I've tried wi-fi in a commercial establishment. I got the instructions
> pamphlet and it said I had to (1) change the SSID to "panera"; (2) make sure
> connection is configured to "infrastructure" [it was]; and (3) make sure WEP
> is disabled [it was] -- then reboot.
>
> I did so and I still could not connect. the one last thing I tried is to
> change the channel to 11 ( have mine at home hard-coded to another channel),
> although the one guy there who "knew what he was doing" didn't have any idea
> what channel they were broadcasting on.
>
> has anyone else in here had similar trouble at panera or other wi-fi
> establishments, even when following all the instructions exactly as they lay
> them out?
>
No experience of Panera however I have used several commercial WiFi spots
(BT Openzone and T-Mobile/Starbucks) and the instructions above given to you
seem wrong.

All you have to do is switch the laptop on, and open up the wireless
interface (not sure what OS you are using). For commercial providers, the
SSID of any nearby "open" provider will appear and you select that.

Then when you open your browser, you are redirected to the login screen to
sort out payment.

As you are finding them, you don't set the channel, you select the network
and your card does the rest.

As to why you have to reboot - no idea - never do with mine (XP or W98 or
OSX) - I don't think their instructions are very good at all !

Maybe MAC access table is full. For example Orinoco AP2500 can manage only
50 users at the same time..

--
robee


"Chuck Hildebrandt" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) s.com...
> I went to a Panera in Chicago to test this out -- this is the first time
> I've tried wi-fi in a commercial establishment. I got the instructions
> pamphlet and it said I had to (1) change the SSID to "panera"; (2) make
sure
> connection is configured to "infrastructure" [it was]; and (3) make sure
WEP
> is disabled [it was] -- then reboot.
>
> I did so and I still could not connect. the one last thing I tried is to
> change the channel to 11 ( have mine at home hard-coded to another
channel),
> although the one guy there who "knew what he was doing" didn't have any
idea
> what channel they were broadcasting on.
>
> has anyone else in here had similar trouble at panera or other wi-fi
> establishments, even when following all the instructions exactly as they
lay
> them out?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Chuck
>
>

hmm -
I was pretty amazed at how it all worked,
until I found the info on the AP being used -
(see my other threads)
For XP, the config on the wireless card,
has a setting to basically "see" any avail wireless network,
and therefore present the SSID to you for connection -
If that "see any network" is not selected, then you won't see it -
and you would have to manually change the SSID -
what OS are you using ???
After the SSID selection - you are physically connected,
and the rest is up to the access point for all proxy functions -
I didn't drag my Win98se laptop to see how it works at Panera,
as if the SSID has to be manually set, or it again "sees all" -
Phil -

just an update -
I grabbed my old Win95b laptop - used for regression testing
and it has a Linksys WPC11 wireless card -
It would seem that the SSID must be configured manually for 95b
via the Linksys Config utility, or the Network card settings -
Maybe Win9x doesn't have the additional software smarts
to gather and list all SSID's - and allow a user selection -
Phil -