Yeah, but you got the story screwed up. Walmart is considering going into the wireless business using 802.16 WiMax, not commodity Wi-Fi. There was no suggestion of offering anything for free. They want to offer it as some sort of telecom service to customers surrounding their store. That was August and I haven't seen any action since. See:
It's not down. I'm at 950ft elevation. It's *UP* south.
Same here. Very nice day. However, I've been inside since Weds. I caught a cold and pounding a keyboard is about the only thing I can do that doesn't require thinking or moving. I should be well enough tomorrow to go outside. Make sure you virus scanner is working so you don't catch my cold.
Meanwhile, direct from Santa Cruz...
The talk that I heard was that Walmart is experimenting with providing fixed broadband wireless internet using wireless. I don't mean a hotspot in the stores, I mean trying to blanket the surrounding areas with wireless signal. I don't imagine that they're thinking of doing it for free. If they can't find a way to make it profitable, they won't do it.
I was told that very soon, Wal-Mart is going to offer (maybe free) WiFi at all of there stores...
Does anyone know anything about this?
YUA California
It already is. Almost all of the bottom of the line Wi-Fi hardware and software comes from China, Korea, or Taiwan. If you lookup the FCC ID on the FCC web pile:
Welcome to the global economy.
That would be nice if the price they might charge would match the low cost of in-there-store prices.. As you know many of the companies that charge for WiFi service need someone like Wal-Mart to bring the price down, since all of the other are ALL way over prices...
Thanks for your input, and I shall keep on what I hear.
YUA Northern California
Thank you Jeff...
By-the-way how's the weather down south?
I'm up by Santa Rosa, and it's 68 and clear.
YUA
Yeah, but do you want your WiFi source to be from China?
Jeff Liebermann wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
Is there ANY mass produced consumer electronics product manufactured in the US anymore?
Sometimes it's just really hard to 'Buy American'.
No.
There a few web sites that offer made in America type products.
The problem is that if there really were consumer electronics totally made in the USA, the price would be so high that nobody would buy them. I've costed out and reverse engineered some imported electronic products and found that the price of the completed imported product, was less than the parts cost in the USA.
Steve,
I worked in engineering in the consumer electronics industry in the
60's, and all TV's, for example, and most of everything else, was manfactured in the USA. The primary reason for moving everything off- shore was the initial price competition from Japan, but primarily the demand from American consumers for low prices for high-tech equipment. Two of the most complex, and technical, products available are the "simple" TV and VCR. And yet, today they are available at give-away prices. You can't even afford to replace any major component in either should something fail - it's cheaper to buy another.There are mass-produced electronics still made here in the USA, but for niche markets, certainly not the "consumer electronics market."
Don
Which is why I think I specifically mentioned 'consumer' goods. I actually work for an OEM wireless data communication's company, and we fill a tiny niche market, mostly SCADA and remote monitoring, in narrow band (read low bandwidth) licensed oddball frequencies. It's truly the only market where our product's can survive. Market's like this are passed up by large manufacturer's due to the low volume and specialized nature. Where else are you going to get >$2k for a serial-based 19.2k baud point-to-point radio set (?). (rhetorical question)
Regards,
DanS
Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.