[Neal Allen]

Yeah, forgot to mention. I play 5e so often I tend to forget about the other editions.

All of what everyone's saying makes sense and I agree with it.
But the situation I'm proposing is not that of one walking down the street.
I'm talking about runners.
Like, professional runners.
Not those bumbling "Teammates? What are those? I'm gonna shot everyone I see with my big gun."
I'm talking everyone putting on their armoured business suits to go talk to the Johnson.  Messaging the face with disagreements instead of interruption your fixer.  Actual planning.

These are the kinda guys that couldn't give a frag less if their underwear produced tweets.
Their lives are on the line from the second they enter the shadows. Of course one of the first things on their minds is gonna be the wireless everything that projects their location to anybody and their grandma.

@Marcus:
Yes, I understand there's a great many fluff and stat advantages and benefits to shoving a minicomputer into your sword, but very few are actually listed in the game and if I wanted (as a gm) a google benefits, I'd write a book.  But for now, I'm going off what's written in the core rulebook.  Somewhat because it's enough to have the benefits of calculating wind, rain, fog, earth rotation, current magazine capacity, heat buildup, guncam, silencer, trigger memory, and general gun strength. And somewhat because I'm probably slightly less than the average GM and I'm struggling to keep up with my players.  To them it feels like the world is vast and complex while to me it all looks like old west building facades.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

And as the GM, that's how it's supposed to be - you, scrambling to keep up with the world and present to your players a reasonable facsimile of a vast and complex world, them seeing that vast and complex world and being willing to accept that though they may be Wild West facades, you're trying, so they're going to accept them at face value.

In regards to your (apparent) uncertainties, here's the thing - a 'professional', by which I'm assuming we mean a reasonably black-trenchcoat kind of guy, is going to do his best to appear as normal as metahumanly possible right up until the moment where he pulls the rug out from under you - and maybe not even then, if he can get away with stealing the rug without you realizing it.  If everyone's underwear is tweeting about how happy their testicles are, then the pro's underwear is going to be in underwear chat rooms, talking with other pairs of men's underwear about his gonads.  If everyone's shoes are saying 'Look at me, I'm a pair of Ked's SmashBros Superplex Court Dominators', the pro's shoes are going to be coughing and saying in a high-class British accent, "You do not deserve to look at me, for I am a pair of London Fog Executive Boardroom Elites."  The pro is going to do his level best to make his gear mirror what everyone else's stuff is doing.  He may fake certain things - burn out that ArmorTux tag and replace it with FashionElite's Snobbish Vest (which is unarmored) - but he's still going to make it appear that he's just an ordinary joe, even if he's an executive.

When he has to 'vanish', then he's got a couple of choices.  He can click 'off' on all his tags simultaneously, or he can flip them to another setting (and thus do the electronic version of a quick-change).  Either way, depending on how closely the observers are paying attention, he has a good chance of getting away with it ... or a good chance of getting zeroed in on.  Either way, though, a pro is not going to walk around with the electronic version of 'nothing on', because nothing draws attention faster than a (figuratively) naked person.

[Ursus Maior]

I agree with the Wyrm, when in Rome, do as the Romans do has worked for millennia.

[Xenon]

@op
Why turn smartlink wireless on if you are not connecting it to a wireless enabled smartgun...?

Either you connect them wireless (both wireless on) while working in concert with DNI (and get all bonuses listed at various places around the book) or you connect them with a wire (both wireless off, this only enable you to some bonuses).



Why not have your vehicle wireless on? Without it you can't instruct it's on board pilot program to pick you up or to provide suppressive fire. You can't even unlock the car remotely as you approach it and have to physically interact with its lock mechanism. You have to drive stick and can't drive it with AR (with all the benefits that comes with that).

As long as you spend one complex action each combat turn remote controlling the vehicle (which you should do anyway unless you let the vehicles pilot program and gridsoft drive for you) you are effectively blocking any hacking attempts at remote controlling your vehicle (unless maybe if you installed a rigger interface and the hacker also have a control rig augmentation or is using a living persona with a mind over machine echo).

[Medicineman]

Why turn smartlink wireless on if you are not connecting it to a wireless enabled smartgun...?

Why use a smartlink & Gun at all ?
 it has become so crappy in 5th ed.
 If you haven't cybereyes it gives just one single additional Dice (just like a Laserpointer ) is much more expensive than a Laserpointer and raises a Limit by two instead of one from a Laserpointer
otoh if you keep your Smartgun WiFi open its bound to be Bricked by a Decker sooner or later
If a Decker bricks the Laserpointer you can still use your Gun without it

With a WiFi closed Dance
Medicineman

[Top Dog]

Why turn smartlink wireless on if you are not connecting it to a wireless enabled smartgun...?

Why use a smartlink & Gun at all ?
 it has become so crappy in 5th ed.
 If you haven't cybereyes it gives just one single additional Dice (just like a Laserpointer ) is much more expensive than a Laserpointer and raises a Limit by two instead of one from a Laserpointer
otoh if you keep your Smartgun WiFi open its bound to be Bricked by a Decker sooner or later
If a Decker bricks the Laserpointer you can still use your Gun without it

With a WiFi closed Dance
Medicineman

If bricking a smartgun makes you unable to shoot, so should bricking a laserpointered smartgun. They're both weapon accesories, the same rules should apply. (Of course, hacking a smartgun does have other options, like ejecting clips).

Also, laserpointers are visible. Not very visible, perhaps, and maybe not even visible to regular sight, but visible nonetheless. Not important in a straight up firefight perhaps, but when stealthing or sniping it is.

[Medicineman]

If bricking a smartgun makes you unable to shoot, so should bricking a laserpointered smartgun

Not if the Laserpointer is just  an Add-on
A bricked Smartgun is rendered useles. a bricked Laserpointer is just that, but that doesn't matter to the Gun itself !
(Should I add (as a snarky remark) smarted throwing Knifes.... ? Naaaah, not this time, maybe next time )

Also, laserpointers are visible.

Which is a tool for Intimidation ( See Expendables # 1 )
And you should be able to change the frequency of the Laserpointer to the lower Infrared spektrum so it can be seen only by Infrared 'ware or metas
Yes, this is not (yet) touched by RAW, but it is something that should be possible (  There was Cyberware like an Eye light emitter in SR4A which used the same )

with an expendable Dance
Medicineman

[Rooks]

If I was a decker and I hacked their smartgun first thing Id do is eject clip

[Medicineman]

See 
...oO( I wonder if I should tape the Clips of my Smartgun to the Grip....?)

with a taped Dance
Medicineman

[Kincaid]

Accessories share a Matrix icon with the device (this will be made clear shortly), so a decker can't selectively target one and not the other.  Although I'm not really sure why, given the ability to do so, the decker would go for the laser sight and not the gun itself in the first place.

[Medicineman]

wait a Second !! ( )
I have a mechanical Revolver (Ruger Super Warhawk f.E.) and a WiFi open Laserpointer on top
A Spoilsportdecker can Hack/brick ONLY the Laserpointer. so my char simply switches him Off (or just the WiFi connection) and the gun still works (and I still wonder why a Laserpointer thats connected to the Matrix works better than one without, but thats a different discussion which has been chewed oh so often )
But If  my Char uses an Ares Predator V he can can render the whole Gun useless
That's all Im saying/writing

HokaHey
Medicineman

[Top Dog]

Well

Also, laserpointers are visible.

Which is a tool for Intimidation ( See Expendables # 1 )
And you should be able to change the frequency of the Laserpointer to the lower Infrared spektrum so it can be seen only by Infrared 'ware or metas

I agree it should be possible, but everyone and their mom has thermographic vision these days, so that won't help as much as you think (okay, it'll still help).

And yeah, like Kincaid said. Laserpointer and Smartgun are the same in that regard.

Laserpointers are better when wireless because then it can compensate for wind drift and such, making you more likely to hit. Doesn't seem far-fetched to me.

[Medicineman]

Laserpointers are better when wireless because then it can compensate for wind drift and such, making you more likely to hit. Doesn't seem far-fetched to me.

a Laser.... ?
Windthrift ...?
 at 5 meters ...?
in a Building....?

No,No,No, I am not going to start such a discussion again even if

. Doesn't seem far-fetched to me.

is a blatant challenge to (my) Common sense

with a friendly Dance
Medicineman

[Novocrane]

Laserpointers are better when wireless because then it can compensate for wind drift and such, making you more likely to hit. Doesn't seem far-fetched to me.

a Laser.... ?
Wind [d]rift ...?
 at 5 meters ...?
in a Building....?

Accounting for wind drift has a particular penalty reduction with smartgun systems. I think people forget that.

What they both do is improve your aim before you start Taking Aim.

[Reaver]

Don't look at me, i own 2 laser sights. One internal and one projected....


I have no idea how wireless on/off would make any difference for 95% of the time that you would use a laser sight.