Using Wi-Fi to download data from Router? & possible explanation

[SUPERMANUSA]

How could that guy in Oliver's plane download the information from the network router Clark stole if it wasn't even powered! I thought that was a BIG dumb scene.

[biggkoz]

Yeah that was odd. And also who was that guy?

[Krypton_Chick7]

i agree, the producers didnt think that one out, but i guess oliver did need to go there by himself to find lana...

[Liquid-Prince]

How could that guy in Oliver's plane download the information from the network router Clark stole if it wasn't even powered! I thought that was a BIG dumb scene.

Battery powered?

[Thil_EL]

Maybe they thought Routers are battery powered? Oh smallville. :lol:

[unfocused]

They're doing that in Prison Break. Stealing info from a turned off source. In PB, the device was made by a criminal, so if you want, you can just chalk it up to Oliver and his millions finding someone smart enough to create a similar device that steals data from a turned off source.

I guess it's perfectly fine by television to pretty much create anything without the slightest explanation of how it works :lol:

[Rub-in]

That was like proboly a last minute thing the producers must have whiped up i guess

[Thil_EL]

They're doing that in Prison Break. Stealing info from a turned off source. In PB, the device was made by a criminal, so if you want, you can just chalk it up to Oliver and his millions finding someone smart enough to create a similar device that steals data from a turned off source.

Well at least, in that case we dont know much about the "cards" to assume that it needs to be plugged in to power up. In this case we DO know that for sure.

[mysticalweather]

Yeah, I had the same thought during that scene.

You know, people are becoming more and more tech-savvy...did they think we wouldn't notice that the router wasn't hooked up or turned on? Really this is just some lazy writing.

Guess we'll have to fanwank it to fill in the plotholes. LOL!

[SUPERMANUSA]

:lol: What if we are wrong. How big of a battery would a network router need to be powered. :lol:

[moviefan2k4]

Just a thought, but couldn't the router have been pre-charged, maybe like one of those battery packs you put in the wall beforehand? I was just thinking the router could've had a built-in battery or something.

[SUPERMANUSA]

I'd think yes, but not for accessing stored data. Maybe like a watch battery (like PC's) for storing bios data.



By maintaining configuration information in a piece of storage called the "routing table," wired or wireless routers also have the ability to filter traffic, either incoming or outgoing, based on the IP addresses of senders and receivers.

[Liquid-Prince]

:lol: What if we are wrong. How big of a battery would a network router need to be powered. :lol:

It could be a mix of Battery Powered and Solar Powered.

[SUPERMANUSA]

:lol:

If you are serious, I don't think network routers that size are made like that. Maybe small devices are.

[unfocused]

Well at least, in that case we dont know much about the "cards" to assume that it needs to be plugged in to power up. In this case we DO know that for sure.

Actually, info is stolen off of a turned off card in the episode where they break into the safe to get the card info. That card is obviously turned off.

[Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent]

That scene pissed me off. Though, for a different reason. Since that was SO the scene Lee Thompson Young was supposed to be in as Cyborg. But thanks to those gosh durn scheduling conflicts we got stuck with that...random guy. Having Cyborg in that probably would've needed less explanation too.
Oh well...

[Liquid-Prince]

That scene pissed me off. Though, for a different reason. Since that was SO the scene Lee Thompson Young was supposed to be in as Cyborg. But thanks to those gosh durn scheduling conflicts we got stuck with that...random guy. Having Cyborg in that probably would've needed less explanation too.
Oh well...

That's true.

[susangail]

Yeah, that would have made more sense. My husband the engineer started shouting at the TV. Myself, I cringed more at Lana's megagig reference.

[Karafan1]

So does that guy on Oliver's plane know Clark is the red/blue blur? He heard the end of Clark and Oliver's conversation so maybe he heard the beginning to..

[SUPERMANUSA]

^ he must die now.

----- Added 46 Seconds later -----


Yeah, that would have made more sense. My husband the engineer started shouting at the TV. Myself, I cringed more at Lana's megagig reference.:lol: What is a megagig? Maybe similar to a terabyte? :lol:

[susangail]

:lol: What is a megagig?

Exactly. If you missed it the first time, check out what Lana says to Oliver after she lana-fus him.

[SUPERMANUSA]

:lol: okay. I do remember that scene and heard her say something about wires being all up in there.

[MrZeppo]

I say we just assume he was a meteor freak or some other super powered dude that we can call Wi-Fi and has the ability to transfer data without energy.

That or poor writing.

And I agree with the earlier poster, this was so Cyborg's scene.

[razta]

Honest, why don't the producers do their research on Cyber crimes and network technologies? etc..

[SUPERMANUSA]

No doubt. True dumbing down of society at its finest.

They don't even need to do research. Just pick up the phone and call the Network's Network Admin for advice. Cyborg with a couple of savvy lines explaining some far fetched method would have worked better, I agree.

[razta]

No doubt. True dumbing down of society at its finest.
i know for a fact that you've gotta be within a certain range of a wireless router to do hack into it wirelessly, hence y you have your WEP key etc.. also u can break the key and get into it but still laws of physics apply!

[SUPERMANUSA]

^ meaning electricity :D

[alienkinfolk]

must also be a lead plane, CK didn't see he was back there

[razta]

^ meaning electricity :D
yep.. :rotfl:

[STFanatic]

That is what I posted in the live thread when it happened, but, even if a router does have power, it is not the router that holds the information, any IP address or routing info comes from the service provider, not the hardware it flows through.
Thus, when connecting to a wireless router, you will see "Acquiring IP Address". Otherwise, it would have to be a Static IP and be a wired unit.

[razta]

That is what I posted in the live thread when it happened, but, even if a router does have power, it is not the router that holds the information, any IP address or routing info comes from the service provider, not the hardware it flows through.
Thus, when connecting to a wireless router, you will see "Acquiring IP Address". Otherwise, it would have to be a Static IP and be a wired unit.
not quite correct on the IP addressing.. (sorry, gonna be a geek here) you local IP address is assigned by the DHCP server, which sits in the Router, this gives u local network access, like if u've got a PC, a laptop, and a PDA with wifi.. so you can do file sharing etc.. however for internet or wide area networks.. that when your ISP gets involved here, either they assigne you WAN connection with a static IP or they rotate IP addresses from their own DHCP pool of addresses.

hope thats clear..
Also its only with the WAN IP addresses where you can tell where someone is located.. local ip addresses are meaningless. the local router's DHCP info is stored on the router, but again, something called Electricity IS needed to get that info:D

[SUPERMANUSA]

By maintaining configuration information in a piece of storage called the "routing table," wired or wireless routers also have the ability to filter traffic, either incoming or outgoing, based on the IP addresses of senders and receivers.

Meaning that the IP addresses are stored within the router itself.
Filter traffic meaning routing. As Abdur is stating, Intranets and ISP's aren't the same.

[razta]

By maintaining configuration information in a piece of storage called the "routing table," wired or wireless routers also have the ability to filter traffic, either incoming or outgoing, based on the IP addresses of senders and receivers.

Meaning that the IP addresses are stored within the router itself.
yeah cos thats the job of a router, its a layer 3 device.. but still how can u get to it without Electricity? Meteor powered router?

[Chlois Supporter]

Yeah, that would have made more sense. My husband the engineer started shouting at the TV. Myself, I cringed more at Lana's megagig reference.



^ he must die now.

----- Added 46 Seconds later -----

:lol: What is a megagig? Maybe similar to a terabyte? :lol:

Actually her megagig reference is simply because the term for what they were describing isn't common knowledge. So its much easier to make up a term that is precise to what they are looking for, and just wait for the correct terminology to catch up. They were right. a megagig does exist. a megagig is the mathematical equivalent of 1000 Terabytes. In computer engineering however, 1024 terabytes is equal to a perabyte. Since Lana said they transfered hundreds of megagigs of information through there, than that would mean it would be a hundreds of petabytes.

to give you a frame of reference, there's no logical reason why a normal person would need a petabyte of information. Google for instance, processes roughly 20-30 petabytes of data a day. So the chances of a normal person, having a harddrive with hundreds of petabytes, is unlikely, hence her calling it a megagig. Because calling it a petabyte is just gonna sound weird to anyone who doesn't know what it means.

[SUPERMANUSA]

:
yeah cos thats the job of a router, its a layer 3 device.. but still how can u get to it without Electricity? Meteor powered router?:lol: :lol: "Hey Oliver, look, this router has a chunk of kryptonite stuck to it. It is powering it." :lol:

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----


Actually her megagig reference is simply because the term for what they were describing isn't common knowledge. So its much easier to make up a term that is precise to what they are looking for, and just wait for the correct terminology to catch up. They were right. a megagig does exist. a megagig is the mathematical equivalent of 1000 Terabytes. In computer engineering however, 1024 terabytes is equal to a perabyte. Since Lana said they transfered hundreds of megagigs of information through there, than that would mean it would be a hundreds of petabytes.

to give you a frame of reference, there's no logical reason why a normal person would need a petabyte of information. Google for instance, processes roughly 20-30 petabytes of data a day. So the chances of a normal person, having a harddrive with hundreds of petabytes, is unlikely, hence her calling it a megagig. Because calling it a petabyte is just gonna sound weird to anyone who doesn't know what it means.

Sounds good! Thanks
That implies that Lex or someone is doing something humongous!

[Theshadow129x]

this was the most unbelievable thing in tonights episode. seriously all electronics need power to download from. its a router it doesnt have a lithium rechargeable battery.

[razta]

this was the most unbelievable thing in tonights episode. seriously all electronics need power to download from. its a router it doesnt have a lithium rechargeable battery.
yeah but being smallville, it probably has Kryptonite powering it :lol:

[SUPERMANUSA]

After watching it a second time, it doesn't come across as bad. The first time I saw it, it stuck out like a sore thumb. The second time, it was bad, but somehow bearable.

[Mr.Magic]

Because calling it a petabyte is just gonna sound weird to anyone who doesn't know what it means.

It might be sounding weird to some, but we don't live in the stoneage. People could just google it.

[Showmaster]

It was such a weird router. Its probably powered by a kryptonite-reactor..

[jimmyolsenblues]

A far as I understand a router directs network traffic.
There is no true data to be stored on a router.
If they stole a hard drive...well that would have made more sense.......
My daily cube job is testing software...I would be happy to lend my technical services to Smallville for free...... lol

[Radioflyer]

yeah but being smallville, it probably has Kryptonite powering it :lol:
Kryptonite hasen't been established as a power source...yet.

[Mr.Magic]

Kryptonite hasen't been established as a power source...yet.

No? What about Pete's Kryptogasmobile?

[migo]

Data is stored on a router. Just go to 192.168.0.1 (if you have something like a Linksys router), enter username admin and password admin - you'll get into the router's configuration files, it's actually set up like a mini webserver. That info is stored in flash memory. However, Lex was transmitting a lot of data, and flash memory is slow, so it would likely use a form of non-volatile ram, which would require it to be continually powered. Lex is also not an idiot and wouldn't let something like a power outage screw him up, so it's likely that every piece of hardware he uses has a UPS.

[SUPERMANUSA]

^ is right

----- Added 2 Minutes later -----


It might be sounding weird to some, but we don't live in the stoneage. People could just google it.True. I'd much rather they use real words.

[razta]

Migo that data is just the basic Router Operating System.. a router is a computer it has a CPU for doing what it needs to do, and memory, Rom and NVRam, and Flash.. NVRAM is where the config settings are kept, like user logon details, filters, port setting DHCP setting etc.. but still... it needs power.. that tech dude that ollie had on his Jet said he got the data wirelessly, while Clark had the router in his ARM.. how?:confused:

[SUPERMANUSA]

I think migo agreed that it needed power in order for that guy to download the data. That's why I agreed with em. If not, then I disagree with em.

[razta]

I'm not disagreeing with Migo.. just saying that the router can't really give that much info about the computers connected to it.. only IP and MAC addresses. and any access rules that are setup on it.

[Praxis]

As an IT tech, this scene almost made me cry. However, "megagigs" actually pushed me over the line.

Seriously. Mega = one million, hence "megabyte" = one million bytes. Giga means one billion, hence a Gigabyte.

Megagigs?

Seriously, what were the writers thinking?

[razta]

As an IT tech, this scene almost made me cry. However, "megagigs" actually pushed me over the line.

Seriously. Mega = one million, hence "megabyte" = one million bytes. Giga means one billion, hence a Gigabyte.

Megagigs?

Seriously, what were the writers thinking?
mate, may i just add thats what we're all complaining about.. being an IT professional.. the writers really screwed it up.

[SUPERMANUSA]

Routers do store data.
There are even Router Administrator jobs.

[razta]

Routers do store data.
There are even Router Administrator jobs.
yeah but its still nothing like documents etc..
Routers store things like:
Vlan database
Forwarding rules
DHCP
port configs
protocol information
etc

[SUPERMANUSA]

I understand that. I mean they store IP addresses used for routing.
Which would be conceivable that the information to track Lex was in it.
They just could not have accessed it without it being powered on.

[razta]

yeah.. the new POWERLESS router! :lol:
here's what he said:
"put out the fuse dude.. wifi.. I downloaded the info while you two were having that lovers spat!"

[SUPERMANUSA]

^ Ugh, that sentence compounded it and made it even more dumb.

[Kevin24]

Nice to see you guys having fun by the mistakes in the show :)

I really don't know how any of that works so it didn't bother me.

[SUPERMANUSA]

No? What about Pete's Kryptogasmobile?... Actually, that was injected like nitrous. Combustible, but not the primary power supply. Still, good point.

[fa8362]

"Seriously, what were the writers thinking?"

They weren't. They were just trying to meet a deadline and turn something in.

[robisgnarly]

MMMMM powerless electronics..... it is braniac's fault!!!!!!

[Viper2369]

I have to admit that some of these replies are entertaining and a lot of good points are made here, but I have to throw my $.02 in.

While I had the same reaction that most had when I saw the scene, as an IT guy myself, i said "WTH?." But it really isn't that far fetched. A router can work on a standard UPS (backup power supply), so it is completely possible that it had an internal power supply. We have to remember this is the hardware of a multibillionaire, he is going to have the best of the best.

Now as far as getting data from the router, there is data to be gotten from the router, just not what folks think when they hear "data". It does not hold documents and files in the traditional sense. Now, you have to keep in mind that Ollie is trying to find out where the emails are coming from and where they are going, so all he is needs from the router are the IP NAT tables. This is IP network access translation tables, i.e. it tells where the packets that were sent came from and where they are going. This is the only information that Ollie need to find Lex and that is what is in a router.

For the record, I program Cisco 2400 series routers on a daily basis for data nad VoIP traffic and would be happy to show what a IP NAT table looks like, I just don't think my company would like that.

And for those more interested in the workings of the router. It does handle dynamic host configuration protocal (DHCP, as mentioned earlier). This is a form of classless IP subnetting. What this means is the router has a private IP range, say 192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.254 that it can hand out to comptuers, printers, etc on that router's network. All of those devices communicate with one another on the private network. When they want to get out to the internet (wide area network, aka WAN or Internet) the packets are sent to the router via the private IP and then the router translate that to an IP that is recognizable by the outside network. For example, if the device had an IP of 192.168.0.2 and tried to communicate with Google, it would not work because that isn't a recognizable IP address as far as Google is concerned. It would have to communicate with the IP address given by the ISP.

So I hope that helps, although this is a very simple explaination of how it works. This is not meant to be a "I know more than you" post, just a helpful one. I enjoy good conversation, especially when it is something I am knowledgable of. So in the context of the show, this actually is possible. To get those routing tables, they would need less than a second to download them.

Now I missed the megagig comment and had I heard it, I would have given another "WTH." Mega, Giga, tera, etc are all measurments to quatify an amount of data. The difference in hertz and byte is that hertz is how fast it can be processed and byte is the amount of data.

Overall, it was a good episode, but I have to admit my favorite line came from Ollie. Something along the lines of "...he needs you, I know it." Lois replies "how could you possible know that?"

"Because I know Clarke."

[razta]

cheers for the post mate. i just didn't want to bother writing that much as not all of us are CCNA/CCNP qualified :lol:
i agree with everything you've said.. but what still baffles me, is how did that techno dude in the back of Ollie's jet get the data off the router while it was in clark's hand on the plane not plugged in? i mean all he needed was the logs, and do a "show run" or a "show ip ..." etc and not only that but he did it wirelessly.. WTF?
and also knowning that lex is a gazillionaire :lol: ok millionaire and has the best of the best.. how did clark know which router to pull out from the Rack? lol ok he's super man, but then again in a comms rack everything is labled..

[Viper2369]

cheers for the post mate. i just didn't want to bother writing that much as not all of us are CCNA/CCNP qualified :lol:
i agree with everything you've said.. but what still baffles me, is how did that techno dude in the back of Ollie's jet get the data off the router while it was in clark's hand on the plane not plugged in? i mean all he needed was the logs, and do a "show run" or a "show ip ..." etc and not only that but he did it wirelessly.. WTF?
and also knowning that lex is a gazillionaire :lol: ok millionaire and has the best of the best.. how did clark know which router to pull out from the Rack? lol ok he's super man, but then again in a comms rack everything is labled..


LOL, I agree with ya, which is why my initial reaction was the same as everyone else. But it is possible for a router to run on a battery power supply and with amount of new technology out there, they may already have a router with an internal power supply. I have yet to see one, so that is why I didn't want to believe it, but it just isn't out of the relm of possibilities and it is just a TV show. And you can do it wirelessly, if the router has wireless access. I am pretty sure most have a Linksys, D-link, etc at home and you can log into it wirelessly and program it. And for the record it is "show ip nat trans" :).

While this thread is fun, the ironic thing to note here is that we are debating if it is possible for a router to have an internal power supply and if you can access it remotely, on a show where an alien can run faster than a speeding bullet, leap a tall building in a single bound, etc. :rotfl:

[SUPERMANUSA]

Viper2369, it's nice that you confirmed everything that's been mentioned as being legitimate, but I still have a hard time believing that a network router has a built in ups. I mean, that's what full sized UPS's are used for. What good would it be if the router had a ups but not the entire network or building. It wouldn't make any difference if the router itself had power and the rest of the network (servers, computers etc...) were all powered off.

Your last comments above are very ironic, I agree. Shows how the sci-fi is closely tied into the real (IT) world of today. :D

[Showmaster]

No, a router doesnt store data. However it does store the IP-adress, and with that, the location of its user.

Thats how Oliver tracked down the warehouse.

[SUPERMANUSA]

IP address is considered DATA.
An IP address would prob. be 2K worth of (text) DATA.

[Krypton935]

yeah that made absolutely no sense!!! I just played it off though cuz everything can't be perfect and if faced with the stiuation of writing this I wouldn't be able to come up with anything better :lol:

[MaximRecoil]

Actually her megagig reference is simply because the term for what they were describing isn't common knowledge. So its much easier to make up a term that is precise to what they are looking for, and just wait for the correct terminology to catch up. They were right. a megagig does exist. a megagig is the mathematical equivalent of 1000 Terabytes. In computer engineering however, 1024 terabytes is equal to a perabyte. Since Lana said they transfered hundreds of megagigs of information through there, than that would mean it would be a hundreds of petabytes.

to give you a frame of reference, there's no logical reason why a normal person would need a petabyte of information. Google for instance, processes roughly 20-30 petabytes of data a day. So the chances of a normal person, having a harddrive with hundreds of petabytes, is unlikely, hence her calling it a megagig. Because calling it a petabyte is just gonna sound weird to anyone who doesn't know what it means.

"Megagig" is nonstandard terminology. It combines two prefixes (mega and giga) with one root word ([i]byte). It is like saying "millicentimeter". The word they were looking for was of course, "petabyte"; or better yet, since they were talking about 430,000 of them, they might as well have said ~420 exabytes.

BTW, Lana didn't say anything about transferring "hundreds of megagigs of information through there". Here is the quote:

Lana: "We both know that 2 hours ago more than 430,000 megagigs of Luthercorp RAM and ethernet cables were running through this place."

The quote is laughable. As far as a single stick of RAM goes, the largest I know of is 2 GB. So to have enough RAM to equal nearly half a zettabyte, you'd need about 225.44 billion 2 GB sticks; which would require several billion motherboards just to make use of it all.

And of all the things to mention, she mentions RAM and ethernet cables?? What's the point of that?

[SUPERMANUSA]

Okay, it is official, the scene was butchered beyond belief.

[Mr.Magic]

As far as a single stick of RAM goes, the largest I know of is 2 GB.

The largest standard modules are 8GB at the moment, afaik.

http://www.nextag.com/Axiom-16GB-DDR2-SDRAM-561370548/prices-html

http://www.keenzo.com/showproduct.asp?M=KINGSTON-TECHNOLOGY&ID=1204883&ref=GB

[MaximRecoil]

The largest standard modules are 8GB at the moment, afaik.

http://www.nextag.com/Axiom-16GB-DDR2-SDRAM-561370548/prices-html

http://www.keenzo.com/showproduct.asp?M=KINGSTON-TECHNOLOGY&ID=1204883&ref=GB

Interesting. So that would come out to ~56 billion sticks, which is still obviously absurd.

[Shadowlord367]

Okay, so I don't know if anyone's mentioned this already, but here's my explanation of that nonsense.

I think that the random tech guy in Oliver's plane was originally supposed to be AC/Cyborg. If you remember, he was originally listed as a surprise guest in the Spoilers page, but later on was removed due to some conflict, most likely scheduling.

If you think about it, if it was AC, he wouldn't have even HAD to have said "wireless." Perhaps he has the intel of the router stored within his system now, or perhaps he was able to figure it out on his own. He is a Cyborg, after all.

When the actor found out he couldn't do the episode, they switched him with the tech guy, and then switched his abilities with wireless.

Less plausible, less realistic, less exciting, but okay for a last minute rewrite.

[Praxis]

Then explain the "Megagigs of RAM and ethernet cable" comment.

More likely the writers are just plan stupid.

[Praxis]

I have to admit that some of these replies are entertaining and a lot of good points are made here, but I have to throw my $.02 in.

While I had the same reaction that most had when I saw the scene, as an IT guy myself, i said "WTH?." But it really isn't that far fetched. A router can work on a standard UPS (backup power supply), so it is completely possible that it had an internal power supply. We have to remember this is the hardware of a multibillionaire, he is going to have the best of the best.

Now as far as getting data from the router, there is data to be gotten from the router, just not what folks think when they hear "data". It does not hold documents and files in the traditional sense. Now, you have to keep in mind that Ollie is trying to find out where the emails are coming from and where they are going, so all he is needs from the router are the IP NAT tables. This is IP network access translation tables, i.e. it tells where the packets that were sent came from and where they are going. This is the only information that Ollie need to find Lex and that is what is in a router.



This is all well and good, but even if we take a leap and assume that the router had a UPS attached...there's several things that make little sense.


* Why was it going through a wireless router? This was a router in a warehouse Lex was passing data through. Why would it be wireless? Most corporations use separate wired and wireless routers for their respective parts of the network.

* Even if it was a wireless router, why would it be broadcasting an unsecured network, and not have an onboard administrative password to keep people out of the NAT tables? Or are we supposed to believe that Oliver's guy hacked into the wireless network, THEN hacked the router's admin password in under thirty seconds even when he had no idea Clark was going to leave?

----- Added 1 Minutes later -----


"Megagig" is nonstandard terminology. It combines two prefixes (mega and giga) with one root word ([i]byte). It is like saying "millicentimeter". The word they were looking for was of course, "petabyte"; or better yet, since they were talking about 430,000 of them, they might as well have said ~420 exabytes.

It's actually worth noting that Lana never used the word Byte. So it's actually more like saying "millicent" instead of "millicentimeter".

[legofreak]

yeah i think this is even weirder than doomsday costume :lol:

[devilneedsaride]

As an IT tech, this scene almost made me cry. However, "megagigs" actually pushed me over the line.

Seriously. Mega = one million, hence "megabyte" = one million bytes. Giga means one billion, hence a Gigabyte.

Megagigs?

Seriously, what were the writers thinking?

"We both know that 2 hours ago more than 430,000 million billions of Luthercorp RAM and ethernet cables were running through this place."

Nope. That doesn't sound like something an adult would say, much less someone who supposedly knew what they were talking about.

Honestly, if I can cringe at this, you'de think that the SV writers could find SOMEONE to better advise them on technical matters.



And of all the things to mention, she mentions RAM and ethernet cables?? What's the point of that?

I think they're just assuming that the viewers are too stupid to know anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, about the different components of a computer system (and also, she remotely detected the ethernet cables... how?) so they just grabbed two computer-y sounding words and strung them together, expecting us not to know the difference. On another note, Lex was really keeping all his information on RAM? What if the power goes out, he'll lose his creepy stalker footage! :\



It's actually worth noting that Lana never used the word Byte. So it's actually more like saying "millicent" instead of "millicentimeter".

This is completely unrelated, but Millicent is actually a female name meaning "she with the gentle gait." That seemed worth mentioning, for some reason.

[Shadowlord367]

Or they think that we're stupid, and that it's not necessary to actually get the techlingo right.

Or, it is totally in character for Lana to not be a tech wiz. If it was Chloe it would be a different story.

[MaximRecoil]

It's actually worth noting that Lana never used the word Byte.
That's why I said that "byte" was implied.


So it's actually more like saying "millicent" instead of "millicentimeter".

The focus of the comparison was on using two metric prefixes; not whether or not she abbreviated (by omission in this case) the root word.

Also:


Prohibition of multiple prefixes

The kilogram is the only SI base unit that has an SI prefix as part of its unit name and symbol. Because multiple prefixes may not be used (such as microkilogram or µkg), the prefixes are used with the unit gram and its symbol g (e.g. milligram or mg).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix#Prohibition_of_multiple_prefixes

[zitro]

hell... that dude was granny goodness

[Shadowlord367]

As I said in another thread, I think that "random tech guy" was supposed to be Cyborg. Remember he was announced as a guest in this episode, but couldn't later due to scheduling conflicts?

It would make much for sense to Cyborg to somehow have the intel within his system, as he is a cyborg after all.

So I think that "Cyborg" became "Random tech guy" and "Cyborg's abilities" became "Wifi."

Not trying to justify, just explaining :)

[redkryptoniteisthebest]

Nevermind. I re-watched this scene and I feel dumb, lol.

[Krypto~Luan]

a show about aliens and your worried about a wi-fi connection?

:lol:
jk i thought that was odd also

[Kal-El 2005]

Don't know why people even look for explanations for half these plot holes... it's Smallville, the writers don't even try that hard half the time.
Apart from the obvious it wasn't plugged in, okay so Lex was using it so for argument's sake let's say it had a built in UPS, but why would Mr. Leave No Trace have no encryption on the router, and I'm sure he wouldn't have WPA or WPA-2 Lex would probably have his own hard ass encryption standard. Just doesn't make any sense, just as the MegaGigs of RAM reference.

[migo]

Viper2369, it's nice that you confirmed everything that's been mentioned as being legitimate, but I still have a hard time believing that a network router has a built in ups. I mean, that's what full sized UPS's are used for. What good would it be if the router had a ups but not the entire network or building. It wouldn't make any difference if the router itself had power and the rest of the network (servers, computers etc...) were all powered off.

Your last comments above are very ironic, I agree. Shows how the sci-fi is closely tied into the real (IT) world of today. :D

Everything would have a UPS. I'm sure Lex would have it set up that there could be a complete power outage and the whole thing would still wrok, up until it tries to reach portions of the internet affected by the outage (and any important server, such as a DNS, as well as anything Tess uses, woul at least run on backup generators).

----- Added 4 Minutes later -----


As I said in another thread, I think that "random tech guy" was supposed to be Cyborg. Remember he was announced as a guest in this episode, but couldn't later due to scheduling conflicts?

It would make much for sense to Cyborg to somehow have the intel within his system, as he is a cyborg after all.

So I think that "Cyborg" became "Random tech guy" and "Cyborg's abilities" became "Wifi."

Not trying to justify, just explaining :)

It is a good reason to get off the writers' case though. They had a good plot, it was all laid out, and one of the key pieces was missing. They put someting in there that's an approximation, given that it wasn't even that important.

[SUPERMANUSA]

Everything would have a UPS. I'm sure Lex would have it set up that there could be a complete power outage and the whole thing would still wrok, up until it tries to reach portions of the internet affected by the outage (and any important server, such as a DNS, as well as anything Tess uses, woul at least run on backup generators).

Please, you'd have to have a battery the size of a car battery to power one router.
Lana was talking about an entire warehouse full of crap.
That'd require a UPS the size of a diesel \8/ motor, which they do make.
No way in heck each of them routers could have individual UPS's.

In the event of a complete power outage, the diesel \8/ UPS would kick in.
Having a built in UPS per router (and EVERYTHING else) just does not work.

Very small portable routers, yes, but commercial grade? No. And I don't care if it is a show about make believe. Not everything is meant to be considered "fake" or fiction on the show.
I also resent the fact that someone changed my thread title.
Change it back please. There is no plausible explanation as of YET.

Using Wi-Fi to download data from Router? - BS

[SUPERMANUSA]

& no possible explanation

[SUPERMANUSA]

still no real world explanation? fascinating

[migo]

Please, you'd have to have a battery the size of a car battery to power one router.

Please, you wouldn't. I can turn my N95 into a router.

[SUPERMANUSA]

elaborate for the sake of entertainment, please, I dare you

[migo]

Joikuspot. Look it up.

[SUPERMANUSA]

It has absolutely nothing to do with powering a commercial grade network router.
Please try again. Thanks.

[migo]

It has everything to do with the fact that you don't need a car battery to power a router. You could easily put a 6 or 8 cell battery that'll power the router for a good 5 hours into the one Clark was holding.

The majority of the bulk of the N95 is the camera. You just put the hardware in for networking and the battery pack and you've got yourself a large watch. Commercial grade router with UPS long enough to keep it powered in the time it takes Clark to steal it and bring it back to Oliver is perfectly viable.

[SUPERMANUSA]

now that makes absolutely no sense

[coco#1]

Well at least, in that case we dont know much about the "cards" to assume that it needs to be plugged in to power up. In this case we DO know that for sure.


YOUR AVATAR MADEME LAUGH:rotfl::rotfl::lol::p;)

[SUPERMANUSA]

It has everything to do with the fact that you don't need a car battery to power a router. You could easily put a 6 or 8 cell battery that'll power the router for a good 5 hours into the one Clark was holding.

The majority of the bulk of the N95 is the camera. You just put the hardware in for networking and the battery pack and you've got yourself a large watch. Commercial grade router with UPS long enough to keep it powered in the time it takes Clark to steal it and bring it back to Oliver is perfectly viable.I don't know why you are talking about the N95 device. And you are talking about turning it into a "large watch". Huh? So what.

Are you suggesting that running a few LED's is (somehow) equivalent to powering a commercial grade network router?

[migo]

The size of the components necessary for transferring data as well as the battery is the size of a large watch. You're as bright as a 2-Watt incandescent.

[SUPERMANUSA]

The size of the components necessary for transferring data as well as the battery is the size of a large watch. You're as bright as a 2-Watt incandescent.Okay, you obviously have no clue about what a UPS is used for. You continue to show just how little you know about the subject. Go and look up the definition of uninterrupted power supply. And while you are at it, go find a manual for a network router and its purpose. You are clueless.

[SUPERMANUSA]

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