Google's Self-Designed Office Swallows Wi-Fi “Like the Bermuda Triangle”
wirelessduck writes:
Google's swanky new "Bay View" campus apparently has a major problem: bad Wi-Fi. Reuters reports that Google's first self-designed office building has "been plagued for months by inoperable or, at best, spotty Wi-Fi, according to six people familiar with the matter." A Google spokesperson confirmed the problems and said the company is working on fixing them.
Bay View opened in May 2022. At launch, Google's VP of Real Estate & Workplace Services, David Radcliffe, said the site "marks the first time we developed one of our own major campuses, and the process gave us the chance to rethink the very idea of an office." The result is a wild tent-like structure with a striking roofline made up of swooping square sections. Of course, it's all made of metal and glass, but the roof shape looks like squares of cloth held up by poles-each square section has high points on the four corners and sags down in the middle. The roof is covered in solar cells and collects rainwater while also letting in natural light, and Google calls it the "Gradient Canopy."
According to one AI engineer assigned to the building, which also houses members of the advertising team, the wonky Wi-Fi has been no help for Google pushing a three day per week return-to-office mandate.
"You'd think the world's leading internet company would have worked this out," he said. Like others, he spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity because Google has not authorized them to talk about work conditions.
Managers have encouraged workers to stroll outside or sit at the adjoining cafe where the Wi-Fi signal is stronger.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.