Google's new “Bay View” campus appears to have a big problem: bad Wi-Fi. Reuters Google's first self-designed office building has reportedly “been plagued for months with 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 was working to fix them.
Gulf view It opened in May 2022. At the launch, David Radcliffe, vice president of real estate and workplace services at Google, said, The site said “This represents the first time we have grown one of our main branches, and this process has given us the opportunity to rethink the idea of the office itself.” The result is a wild tent-like structure with a striking roofline composed of inverted square sections. Of course, it's all made of metal and glass, but the shape of the roof is like squares of fabric held up by posts — each square section has high points at the four corners and an overhang in the middle. The roof is covered in solar cells and collects rainwater while also letting in natural light, which Google calls a “tiered canopy.”
Obviously, all those peaks and parabolic roof sections aren't suitable for Wi-Fi deployment, as the Reuters report says the roof “swallows up broadband like a Bermuda Triangle.” Googlers assigned to the building make do with Ethernet cables, use phones as hotspots, or work outside, where Wi-Fi is stronger. “You'd think the world's leading internet company would have worked this out,” one anonymous employee told Reuters.
Having an office with barely working Wi-Fi is certainly awkward for a company pushing a “return to the office” plan that includes at least three days a week in the Google Wi-Fi desert. A Google spokesperson told Reuters that the company has already made several improvements and hopes to have a fix in the coming weeks.
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