still having trouble imagining a world without rtg, and ltg's Options

[fool]

I live in a place that is "a leader in the wireless revolution" irl.
However, even here, each node connects to a backbone.
What I still don';t get ios how communication is possible across long distances if you're limited to the range of you're commlink.
How do I hack into a building across town without driving within a klick of it, let alone call dear old mom back east?
In the BBB it talks ablut how all links have a commcode used to contact the owner as well as trace within the matrix, but if you're not within range of that commlink, how can you communicate with them?

[WhiskeyMac]

You leapfrog along connections until you pick up that other person's commcode. I'm sure there is a backbone but that backbone is the signal repeaters and antennas that broadcast wireless signals. You are the LTG and the signal repeaters/antennas are the RTG, or that's how I think it works.

But this raises the question, how come you can only track a person/RFID tag based off signal if you can just leapfrog around? Wouldn't you be able to track someone indefinitely as long as they are within range of a signal somewhere?

[Jaid]

as whiskeymac said, it's not so much that they aren't there anymore... it's more like they've just been pushed into the background a whole lot more.

as far as the tracking thing, i thought you could track someone on the matrix so long as you could reach them through the wireless matrix...

[Konsaki]

IIRC, the BBB discribes a backbone network in Seattle that uses a network of signal towers connected to fiber that runs beween cities/states/countries. You use that if you are calling long distance, or want to be hard to trace. Yes you can use alot more jumps than required to connect to another node, thats how hackers do it nowadays.
The only problem with running through too many jumps is the latentcy involved. For example, I'm in Korea right now, and when I play MMO's I routinly have a lag number of 200-400 while someone in the States has 50-150 lag. Put enough wire or nodes between you and your target and it might disconnect you for being too slow in your actions or dropping bits.

For intercity calls, you probably use one of two options I can think of.
1 - Connect to the nearest tower, use fiber to another tower across town, then to the person you are connecting too.
2 - If you are out of range of a tower, you hop PANs untill you reach either a tower or your target.

[Serbitar]

At least in my SR world, there is still a wired backbone

[hobgoblin]

the SR4 matrix is to the SR3 matrix what the internet is to the phone system.

while in SR3 (and the phone system) you have to know where in the world the person you want to call is located because of the use of RTG(national) and LTG (regional) codes, in SR4 (and the internet) you just have to know the address of the person you want to contact.

[hunter5150]

I would say it is much like IRL. The diff in my game and real life is the backbone in RL is wired, while in game it is transmit/sat uplink from the matrix provider. Wireless laptop + Unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot = Free internet. Commlink + Host = Free Matrix. Obviously this is a simplistic analogy, but this is how I explain it to my players.

[Butterblume]

[kzt]

[hobgoblin]

or they could be using blimps of some kind rather then satelites.
atleast that would explain the lack of initative reduction when going thru a "sat" link ;)

in the end to much detail can spoil the fun, or, if your a network engineer that can read raw packet sniffs alongside the morning coffe, add to it i guess :silly:

[Dranem]

While the crash may have nuked a lot of servers, it didn't destroy the actual wired connections that existed. Once the Matrix hosts recovered, rebuilding server links to link transmission towers just make more sense... after all, you can't transmit a wireless signal indefinately without some sort of chance of signal loss - and not every city has a wireless Matrix.

My SR world still features a wired backbone and fibre optic drops - you just need to find the lines that are still active. I see it much like the wired/wireless networks we have today. You can call someones cellphone or their land line - just by 2070, few people have land lines anymore. I can still see home/business trideo units featuring a comm option to allow for teleconferencing.

[Geekkake]

I play out the wireless matrix as, well, wireless Internet, similar to the newer wireless broadband networks. Except they work better. I also see absolutely no problem with wired electronics still being in use, aside from the "deckers run with the group now" issue, and they have to stop and hack a damned door either way. It seems like a fairly common assumption on this board that the Crash means there's no wired connections, or extremely few. I have to disagree. I think wired connections are still extremely common on very demanding hosts and networks. Wireless functionality, on the other hand, is the dominant end-user technology.

[Mistwalker]

Wire is still there, just not being replaced when it goes.
Mostly used for long distance matrix connections, because regardless of your signal rating, getting signals across an ocean is dificult, and they already have all that nice fiberoptic cable bundles buried underwater.