We change up our wireless passwords every year or so and write it on every whiteboard around the space. We also like to make it funny and our current password is "totallysilly". Previously it was "whatpassword" and "itscomplicated". Oh the fun we have. We also have ethernet at almost every desk so that's always an option for people.
For internet connections we have two. One main one and a backup connection that handles the phone lines. We tried merging the two but didn't really have a good time with it. Some folks run systems that don't play nice on a multi-WAN system. So we just do failover. We also use PFSense and I'm a big fan. As an added bonus we have a little integration between our PFSense firewall and Nadine, the system we use to track members and activity. I wrote up a simple system to import the list of all the devices connected to the internet into Nadine and then we have a little magic that ties each device to specific members. It only works when a member signs into Nadine at least once from inside the office and since not everyone does it's not something we can put too much weight on. We don't use it for billing or anything but we do use it to drive a "Who's Here" page and a screen inside the office. Of course members with desktops always show up as here but it's still useful information. Jacob --- Office Nomads - Individuality without Isolation http://www.officenomads.com - (206) 323-6500 On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 11:18 AM, Jerome Chang <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi. We and several other coworking spaces us Meraki. The individual user > log-in info is all cloud-based, which for some of you with multiple > locations, a total breeze to have them access at every location. > > As for Aliza's question, yes, we have 3 simultaneous connections. One is > not used for "back-up" per se, but as you can expect, when one goes down, > the others are can be overwhelmed, especially if an asynchronous DSL > connection. You'd need a switch to simultaneously manage multiple > connections. To be literal, you'll have 3 modems for 3 connections, then > they all merge into a single switch, which connects into your patch > panel(s)/server rack. > > As for handing out ethernet cords for big up/downloads, that might not be > feasible for someone who is nowhere near an ethernet jack, and also > requires the user to speak up to get said cable. > > > Jerome > ______________ > BLANKSPACES > "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself" > > www.blankspaces.com > 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los Angeles, CA 90036 > 323.330.9505 (office) > > On Jan 14, 2013, at 8:30 AM, Tom Brandt <[email protected]> wrote: > > We have a few Ethernet ports scattered around and ask that people with > ginormous uploads or downloads to use them rather than hogging the wifi. > This has worked fairly well. > > --- > twb > Sent from my aye phone > > > On Jan 14, 2013, at 10:36 AM, Matthew Arkin <[email protected]> > wrote: > > If you wanted to keep the same IP address, you'd have to get your own IP > block and then do some BGP sessions, for most internet providers, you'd now > become a IP Transit customer instead of a standard internet customer. > > There is some software that you can run on a spare computer that you can > use to authenticate internet users, the set up would basically put the > computer between the router and your internet connection. A lot of firewall > appliances also allow for internet authentications, you could give each > visitor their own login info. > > Matt Arkin > Kollective Solutions > > On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 10:28 AM, Tom Brandt <[email protected]> wrote: > >> We have Comcast and AT&T coming into Workantile, and we were >> load-balancing between the two. But the problem was that if you were >> switched to the other carrier, your IP address would change and some >> services didn't like that. VPNs don't like that at all, and some web apps, >> like Harvest, didn't like it either. So for a while we nailed one of our >> wifi networks to AT&T so people who needed a persistent ip address could >> use that. >> >> Now, we use Comcast for our primary connection and AT&T for a backup. >> This eliminated a lot of confusion about which network to use for what. >> >> As for bandwidth use, your router's network management interface should >> tell you which mac address and host name is using how much bandwidth. >> >> >> --- >> twb >> Sent from my aye phone >> >> On Jan 14, 2013, at 11:56 AM, Aliza Torok Schlabach <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> Do any of you use multiple carriers simultaneously (not just for back >> up)? Example - Comcast + Verizon? I'm wondering how complicated that would >> be to set up. >> >> Also, if you have a single password for the entire coworking space, is >> there any way to tell who is hogging the bandwidth? >> >> Thanks! >> >> -- >> *Aliza Schlabach* >> Founder >> Coworking for Parents / Juice Box >> www.CoworkingForParents.com <http://www.coworkingforparents.com/> >> <[email protected]> >> 215.858.4658 >> Sign up for our email newsletter <http://www.coworkingforparents.com/> | Join >> our Meetup group <http://www.meetup.com/CoworkingForparents/> | Like us >> on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/CoworkingForParents> | Join the >> Conversation <https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheJuiceBoxPhilly/> | Pinterest >> - Coworking <http://pinterest.com/alizaschlabach/juice-box-coworking/> | >> Pinterest >> - Kids <http://pinterest.com/alizaschlabach/juice-box-kids/> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 11:28 AM, Alex Hillman < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> +1 to everything Jerome said. >>> >>> There's plenty of pain within a network of people who are SUPPOSED to be >>> able to get on the network. You don't also want to make it hard for people >>> to connect in the first place. >>> >>> -- >>> /ah >>> indyhall.org >>> coworking in philadelphia >>> >>> On Jan 14, 2013, at 11:22 AM, Jerome Chang <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> We haven't changed our password in 2+ years either, however...our issues >>> are everything after that initial authentication. One of the biggest >>> problems we have is someone's hogging our bandwidth. Drop a 500mb movie >>> file in Dropbox midday and then, it's like rush hour heading into the >>> Lincoln Tunnel. So we have to throttle each user, etc. >>> >>> OR, one side of the office somehow has way more devices on it so we need >>> the other AP's to help balance the load. >>> >>> OR, one Internet feed drops so the 2nd/back-up needs to kick in >>> immediately, and likely with different throttling settings since it has >>> less bandwidth. >>> >>> OR there are too many other AP's nearby and their channels or whatever >>> cause enough interference. >>> >>> Etc >>> >>> Jerome (not from an EvilBerry) >>> www.BLANKSPACES.com <http://www.blankspaces.com/> >>> >>> On Jan 14, 2013, at 8:07 AM, Tom Brandt <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> We've changed ours once in three years, and it is a pain both to inform >>> the members and for members with older machines to change it. >>> >>> --- >>> twb >>> Sent from my aye phone >>> >>> On Jan 14, 2013, at 11:01 AM, Alex Hillman <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> We've changed ours twice in 6 years. The inconvenience of constantly >>> changing passwords is a killer for the members. >>> >>> Is there a particular thing that you're concerned about that has you >>> wanting to change the password daily? >>> >>> -Alex >>> >>> -- >>> /ah >>> indyhall.org >>> coworking in philadelphia >>> >>> On Jan 14, 2013, at 10:35 AM, Melissa Saubers <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Do you change them on a daily basis? >>> Or do you use a similar system that a hotel would use where the user has >>> to sign in each day and it's good for 24 hours (not sure what it's called)? >>> Or something else? >>> >>> Thanks! >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> >> >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. >> >> >> > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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