FCC Says Go for 'Super Wi-Fi' – Wi-Fi on Steroids
Mild mannered wireless at night, SUPER WI-FI by day!
Wi-Fi is awesome. Just think of the days before Wi-Fi when you had to be tethered to the wall to get on the internet. For a desktop, it wasn't a big deal, but Wi-Fi has changed the way that we compute on laptops.
Things kicked off with 802.11b, and then Wireless G hit, which remains as today's most widely used standard. Wireless N routers and devices are now the current things on store shelves and will eventually overrun G.
While the gradual evolution is good, what Wi-Fi needs is a full revolutionary upgrade – and that's what is officially called Super Wi-Fi, which the FCC just approved.
The FCC has opened up the spectrum between 50MHz and 700MHz that were previously used for television signals. With TV having gone digital, that space has now been opened up for Super Wi-Fi.
The massive benefit to the spectrum between 50MHz and 700MHz over the currently used 2.4GHz is that the lower frequencies travel better through walls and for further distances. Instead of measuring your router's range in feet, Super Wi-Fi routers will be able to reach for miles. Range is the main benefit, as initial speeds will be at 15Mbps to 20Mbps.
Don't expect to get that sort of range in your personal router just yet though (even though it'd be great to browse on your own connection from the neighbourhood café), as the technology will likely first appear in industrial, corporate, government and medical applications.
Google and Microsoft were two big champions of Super Wi-Fi. Google posted a blog, expressing how pleased it was about the FCC paving the way for "Wi-Fi on Steroids."
Microsoft was also happy. Craig Mundie, the company's chief research and strategy officer, issued this statement to TechFlash:
“With this vote, the Commission is taking a forward-looking view of how to optimize spectrum allocation by capitalizing on evolving technologies. As a result, technology companies will be able to develop new applications that tap into the potential of white spaces networks. On Microsoft’s own campus in Redmond, WA, a prototype ‘White-Fi’ system delivers more economical broadband Internet access for employees traveling between buildings on the campus. The FCC’s decision will create opportunities for American companies to remain at the forefront of technological innovation.”
5-10 years down the road Wi-Fi will be as easy to get as a cellphone signal.
5-10 years down the road Wi-Fi will be as easy to get as a cellphone signal.
It would have to be limited. With that said, someone's bound to set up a giant nationwide wifi subscription network where you can access the internet from anywhere without any special cards or devices through your normal wifi connection. As long as they get a handle on dealing with network congestion, I'm all for it.
but my college is messed up... the students take off the antennae from the back of the computers, so it can't access the internet.. smh
Okay so why not just use one of these for 200miles / 320km upto 108 Mbps connections ?
LOL been there done that. Normal in Africa now arrived in USA via FCC finally.
http://www.netkrom.com/prod_multi-band_backhaul_dual_radio.html
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* Long distance parameters and output power regulation
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* Complete compatibility with any IEEE network and WiMAX
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Yup but GSM towers was last limited to effective 8km to 16km max in open areas so have to have lots of ugly towers closer to each other when in the mountains.
As long as apple, Microsoft, Google and Adobe join together I'm sure we'll be fine. (Adobe would ask everyone if they wanted to update)
There is a problem however, you get you signal from a huge transmitter on a hill about 20 miles away - how the hell are you going to get a signal back to acknowledge packets or to upload? I sure down fancy having a 200ft pylon on top the house. You would either need a dedicated hard line as well, just for uploading, or upload via cellphone towers.
Good idea so far, but it hasn't answered any questions yet, just presented new ones.
Actually It wouldn't be that bad... Have you ever used CB Radios? Those usually work well with a 3 foot whip antenna and have a range of close to 20 or 30 miles while in a moving vehicle. Plus obviously they don't require huge amounts of power output to work. Not to mention on a cloudy day with a lot of "skip" (bouncing signal off clouds) the range can go up to 200 miles. Note though that the freq's involved there are in the kHz range though.