  We consider electronic transport through semiconducting nanowires (W) with
spin-orbit interaction (SOI), in a hybrid N-W-N setup where the wire is
contacted by normal-metal leads (N). We investigate the conductance behavior of
the system as a function of gate and bias voltage, magnetic field, wire length,
temperature, and disorder. The transport calculations are performed numerically
and are based on standard recursive Green's function techniques. In particular,
we are interested in understanding if and how it is possible to deduce the
strength of the SOI from the transport behavior. This is a very relevant
question since so far no clear experimental observation in that direction has
been produced. We find that the smoothness of the electrostatic potential
profile between the contacts and the wire plays a crucial role, and we show
that in realistic regimes the N-W-N setup may mask the effects of SOI, and a
trivial behavior with apparent vanishing SOI is observed. We identify an
optimal parameter regime, with neither too smooth nor too abrupt potentials,
where the signature of SOI is best visible, with and without Fabry-Perot
oscillations, and is most resilient to disorder and temperature effects.
