I live in the south bay area (Southern California), in Manhattan
Beach. Along the beach, where all the 10 million dollar + houses are,
there is a perpetual wireless network called "watch*water*1". This
802.11 wireless network gets full strength no matter how far you
walk!!! Usually a wireless network only extends around the house or
establishment that has one. But this "watch*water*1" network is
EVERYWHERE. I would simply like to know who runs this network, and
whether it's a lifeguard thing, or just some insanely rich man's toy.

Most importantly, who is the administrator or owner of the network?

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Request for Question Clarification by ragingacademic-ga on 22 May 2003 17:29 PDT

solrac149 -

Thanks for submitting your question to our forum.

It very well may be due to an especially high concentration of
wireless access points, as the following article portrays (see last
map on page) -

http://www.transstellar.com/wireless/wardriving1.html

Is "Watch*Water*1" the name of the network popping up?
Any additional info you can provide?

thanks,
ragingacademic

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Clarification of Question by solrac149-ga on 23 May 2003 19:30 PDT

Yes, the actual name of the network popping up on the computer is
"watch*water*1"

I was walking from Marine Avenue to Manhattan Beach Blvd., along the
beach (strand) in Manhattan Beach, and I also went out to the water as
well. The network was everywhere.

I don't have much more info than that!
Thanks,
-Carlos-

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 07 Jun 2003 15:50 PDT

Well,

I finally got in touch with a long-lost wireless guru in Manhattan
Beach (he co-founded the South Bay Wireless Users Group down there --
you might want to check them out), and here's what he has to say about
watch*water*1:


I live in Manhattan Beach and all I can say is this...Whoever owns the
Access Point with SSID watch*water*1 may be using a signal booster so
the signal is stronger and broadcasts far.  "All over" Manhattan Beach
is an overstatement.  I live on 19th place and don't pick up that SSID
on my notebook.

I've no other info.  What I will say, however, is that you CANNOT walk
around Manhattan Beach without stumbling into an open access point
somewhere!  I use Kismet to stumble/detect APs all the time and there
are tons of unsecured APs in this town.

In fact, over half the APs here just wide open for anyone to hop on...

---------------

'Fraid that's all I have for you...this has been a tough one to track
down.

I found this map of hotspots, which possibly shows the same Manhattan Beach area:

"Detecting Wireless Networks in Los Angeles: War Driving Results"
http://www.transstellar.com/wireless/mahatbch.png

Here's another article that may be relevant - but I don't think this
is the same neighbourhood at all, albeit unfamiliar with the region -

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/cb_headline.cgi?&story_file=bw.042803/231185407&directory=/google&header_file=header.htm&footer_file=

thanks,
ragingacademic

Some friends of mine who are in to CB radio have said that signals
travel much better over and near water. Combine a reletivly good
coverage of Access points, high gain omnidirectional antennas, and
perhaps amplifiers, and it actually wouldn't be too difficult to make
a wireless network that blanketed a beach.

Greetings Solrac149:

None of my searches resulted in anything about a "watchwater1"
service.  However, I wanted to post my searchstrategy for other
Researchers.  I made phone calls to the Manhattan Beach Chamber of
Commerce, T-Mobile HotSpot service (Starbuck's on-site only) and
Starbuck's at Manhattan Beach.  Wish I could have done better for you.

Best regards,
journalist-ga


SEARCH STRATEGY:

"watch*water*1"
"manhattan beach" california wireless network watch water 1
"manhattan beach" california metricom
metricom ricochet los gatos
metricom ricochet manhattan beach
"manhattan beach" california newspaper
"manhattan beach" california ISP wireless
"manhattan beach" california chamber of commerce
"manhattan beach" wireless Internet
Wi-Fi "Manhattan Beach" provider

PS Here is a site of free Wi-Fi hot spots in California.  Manhattan
Beach is listed once (I phoned that business, too - they had never
heard of Watch*Water*1):

http://www.wififreespot.com/ca.html

Hey,

Check this one out...

http://www.80211hotspots.com/us/2000238/2050338/

 It's a list of hotspots for Manhattan Beach, CA. It has three
matches, two of which were already checked by journalist-ga, so you
might want to check the remaining one, Hawthorn Suites Hotel at
(310)546-8942. I suppose their network works inside the hotel only,
but it's worth a call. I don't live in the US so I can't do it for
you, sorry about that.
 Cheers! :)

Here's another one:

http://www.wifinder.com/searchresults.php?city=Manhattan+Beach&st=CA&zip=&country=United+States&tfree=yes&tpaid=yes&protocol=1&x=41&y=8

 Again the same two that journalist-ga has checked, plus Marriott
Beach Hotel at (310)546-7511.
Cheers! :)

Thanks for all the help you guys!
I guess it's just someone with a signal booster. I have been satisfied
by the comments even though no answer was posted, especially with the
link to the page where you can buy signal boosters and stuff. I'm
going to try that out!

Thanks!
-Carlos-