MetroFi Portland week-in-review
Posted by Russell Senior on 19 January 2008In the Willamette Week piece last week, Lucie Poulicakos (vice president of operations at MetroFi) said that corrections to the map could be expected in a few days. This week we drove back to the 36 locations that the MetroFi map showed were “In service” but that we had found were not. In our recheck we found that there were indeed some incremental improvements, and found evidence that at least 6 of the SkyPilots had been physically touched. Here’s what we found:
- At the following locations the SSID had been empty during the December survey and we found no improvement:
- N Leavitt & Syracuse;
- SE 22nd & Gladstone;
- SE 26th & Insley;
- SE 36th &Center;
- SE Sherman & 48th
- SE Stephens & 10th
- SE Steele & 28th
- SE Steele & 34th
- SW 6th Av between Gaines and Bancroft
- SW Fairmont Blvd between Talbot and Mt Adams Dr (MetroFi removed the location we had associated this with from their map, so they no longer claim it as “In service”, though the device is still present);
- At the following locations the SSID has gone from empty to MetroFi-Free (+6):
- SE 42nd & Sherman;
- SE 52nd & Taggart;
- SW 18th & Jackson;
- SW Fairmont Blvd & Gale;
- SW Gaines St & Veteran;
- SW Hawthorne Terrace & Ravensview Dr;
- At NW 4th & Hoyt, a new BSSID was found (00:0A:DB:03:CB:80) replacing one previously present, and the SSID changed to MetroFi-Free (+1);
- The previously silent SkyPilots were found beaconing an SSID of MetroFi-Free (+11):
- SW Iowa & 41st (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:01:DF:80);
- NE 20th & Flanders (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:03:7B:40);
- NE 70th & Hassalo (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:01:F1:E0);
- SE Division & 57th (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:01:C0:E0);
- SE Pine & 30th Pl (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:01:FF:60);
- SE Water & Yamhill (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:03:EB:E0);
- SW Admiral Ct & Admiral St (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:03:CE:A0);
- SW Alder & 2nd (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:03:76:80);
- SW Barbur Blvd & 41st (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:01:DC:20);
- SE 8th & Division Pl (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:06:3F:00);
- SE 12th & Lincoln (BSSID: 00:0A:DB:03:F1:C0);
- The SkyPilots at the following locations were found to still not be emitting beacons;
- SE 15th & Rhone
- SE 33rd & Pine
- SE 50th & Harrison
- SE MLK Blvd & Stark
- Hwy 10 & SW 39th
- SW 5th & Harrison
- SW Naito Pkwy & Stark
- Hwy 10 & SW 21st
- In an earlier report we identified the SkyPilot at SE 34th & Clinton as beaconing MetroFi-Free during the December survey despite it being marked “Coming soon”, and MetroFi’s map was updated to reflect this;
- Changes to the MetroFi map show SkyPilots changing from “Coming soon” to “In service” and we find they now are beaconing MetroFi-Free:
- SE 59th & Kelly
- SE Division & 64th
- Two SkyPilots that were beaconing MetroFi-Free during the December survey were removed both from the MetroFi map as well as from the field:
- SW 47th Dr & Hamilton (this might have been removed because of problems with backhaul; we were unable to connect through this device during the December survey);
- SW Scholls Ferry Rd & Patton (it isn’t clear why this device was removed, since we successfully connected through this device during the December survey);
- We believe at least six SkyPilots were physically touched recently:
- At SE Water & Yamhill, the dangling power cord was replugged;
- At NW 4th & Hoyt, a SkyPilot or at least a radio was replaced;
- At SW 47th Dr & Hamilton and at SW Scholls Ferry Rd & Patton, SkyPilots were physically removed since the December survey;
- At NE 20th & Irving, we noticed that a SkyPilot that had been previously mounted somewhat askew (attached to the sloping lamp arm), was recently made vertical;
- A SkyPilot gateway device (not providing local service) located at NE 33rd & Sandy that had recently been observed lying on its side had been remounted.
This seems to show that MetroFi or their subcontractors, despite not making much progress recently, still have the ability to get into the field. That was not obvious two weeks ago.
In summary, we find that:
- One “Coming soon” map error was corrected to show the SkyPilot “In service”;
- Two new “Coming soon” SkyPilots are now operational.
- Of the 36 “In service” map errors discovered during the December survey:
- 18 were corrected by making the SkyPilots at least nominally operational (SSID showing MetroFi-Free);
- 1 was corrected by modifying the MetroFi map to remove the claim of “In service”;
- 17 errors remain on the MetroFi map, showing the SkyPilot “In service” contrary to our measurements.
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January 22nd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Today, the MetroFi map was changed to remove the “In service” SkyPilot at SW Naito Pkwy & Stark. We haven’t checked yet to see if the device itself is gone. This leaves 16 errors remaining on the MetroFi map.
January 24th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Tonight we drove by the SW Naito Pkwy & Stark and indeed the SkyPilot that had been there was not to be seen. We also drove by the SkyPilot at SE MLK & Stark and it was dark, no LEDs showing, which would explain why we haven’t been seeing any beacons from it. Nothing we know of explains why it still shows on MetroFi’s map as “In service”.
February 8th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Checking tonight we discovered that the SkyPilot at SE MLK & Stark that had previously been dark, was now beaconing MetroFi-Free. Reviewing our records it appears as this new behavior began at least as early as the evening of February 1, 2008.
April 14th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I recently purchased a Ruckus Wifi Router to obtain Metrofi Service. I a located a little over a half block from the node at SE 39th & Alder. I have loaded the MSN Slide Bar program. I have only been using the service for a few days. Sometimes, I can connect immediately. Othertimes, when I click on the brower function of Slidebar, I get sent to the Metrofi Home page which asks if I want to install or launch Slide Bar. Other times I get sent to a page for Ruckus, which tells me that I am not connected to Metrofi. I have been bumped off once, too. Can anyone tell me what gives here or am I not doing something correct with the MSN slide bar browser. I should mention that there is a vacant lot between my home and the node, so the sight line is unobstructed, except for a tree in my yard. At other times the up and download time is noticeably slower than others. Is it me or is the dependability of Metrofi unsatisfactory? Thanks to anyone who can help me after this rambling message.
May 17th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
[…] a bit further those claims of reaching about 30% of the city seem to have been dodgy, with plenty of access points not operational or not broadcasting, or are calculated overly optimistic: We have previously estimated that on a spatial basis their […]