Hello everyone. I can't understand one thing in hacking - what is a maximum distance between the runner and a hopper or residental lock she is going to hack? Or does it count as if the runner is hacking a server, and he needs just to enter the Network from anywhere he wants?

PS: sorry for my bad English

So the net in Android just like the internet in the real world is one big interconnected web. Technically the runner could be anywhere in the world that has a connection to the net. You just daisy chain connections until you get to your destination. Right now in the real world if you have a camera on your dogs that you can stream to your phone then someone in the world could potentially hack into that camera feed and watch it without your knowledge. There was big news about people hacking into networked baby cameras in nurseries and talking to people's babies through the microphone in the US. As creepy as that sounds that's an unfortunate reality. You create a lock and someone will figure out how to break it.

The runner could technically hack into a server on the Moon from a cafe in the San San city grid if they are clever enough. I usually account for how complicated I think the connection will be to route into the difficulty of the hacking test. When narratively I need the hacker to be somewhere specifically in the world to hack then I specify that she's hacking into a closed system. A system with no wireless access. That forces the hacker to find a physical connection to that network at the facility where it is housed. That's not an uncommon thing for proprietary or classified information repositories in the real world. That's usually my go to for endgame encounters where I want all the PCs to be part of the action. That said if the runner wants their character to do everything from their console at their safe house there is still ways to endanger them. That is what tracing and net damage is designed to accomplish. So if they start failing those tests they might see some NAPD detectives knocking on their door sooner rather than later (or hired mercs infiltrating through their window depending on the reacting party).

A little run down on how I see the Hacking skill in this game. The runner will always have a console on them and that's their wireless access point to the net (taking the runner's console away as part of the story feels wrong IMO since it effectively depowers them). That's how they get into the smart locks, hoppers, smart guns, camera drones etc. Without their console they wouldn't have their hacking tools. If you want to break a smart lock without a console and a network connection (or a dumb lock without a network connection) then there is equipment for that and it would be narratively different. That's more of a Skullduggery roll. The same for "hot wiring" a Hopper to force manual control instead of Hacking into it's navigation systems from the net and giving it a new flight plan. I'd say that's not Hacking. It's Skullduggery. I could see an argument for Mechanics as well if your character feels they would know how the wiring in a Hopper works. Just keep in mind Hacking is specifically the destructive use of a computer skill (the constructive use of the computer skill would instead be Sys Op). They have structured net encounters and narrative net encounters in the rules. I would only do structured net encounters when there is significant protection on the server or the information you are going to get from the server is very significant to the investigation. Also while this is happening you might want to figure out some structured encounter for the others to do as well so the time pressure of the Hacking job makes sense (i.e. combat or social encounters). For hacking a lock, hacking a hopper, hacking a camera drone etc I would just come up with a difficulty on the fly and do a narrative skill check for the hacker to keep things moving. The player and/or GM can come up with the flavor of how the Hacking goes down but for such a small effect a structured encounter isn't worth it.

So is the Hacking skill a potentially very powerful skill in the setting. Yes, but that's also the Runner's main job. I think when coming up with scenes you gotta account for the fact that the players might come up with a Hacking solution to the problem. So when writing an encounter go into it assuming technology is unreliable. That locked door won't stay locked, that drone will probably be hijacked, the players may use a facilities surveillance equipment to their advantage etc.