FCC To Expand Wireless Spectrum 149
Makarand writes "According to this article in the SF Chronicle the
FCC will expand the wireless spectrum
to push broadband into rural areas. However, consumer groups were quick to point out that
these frequencies are not powerful enough to handle long range broadband communications.
They want the FCC to open lower frequencies that can penetrate through walls and trees for
wireless applications in rural areas."
What about Ricochet? (Score:5, Interesting)
SFGate.com also has this interesting article [sfgate.com] from almost a year ago on the return of Ricochet [ricochet.com]:
Ricochet is also targeting residents who can't get high-speed access otherwise. Its signals are sent from radios on poles and rooftops, allowing users with laptops and other mobile devices to stay connected while they roam around.
It sounds like Ricochet is going to use the unregulated 900 MHz band to do the same thing that the FCC is going to do with regulated spectrum (that's already in use by the military).
Of course, another kicker is this paragraph:
Aerie Networks Inc. has resurrected Ricochet, spending $8.25 million for technology and equipment that Metricom spent $1.3 billion developing.
Of all the times to have spent $8,250,000 on lottery tickets [txlottery.org]!
Re:What about Ricochet? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What about Ricochet? (Score:4, Interesting)
I have several post related to them, and usually I copy 'n paste them here. A few of them I targetted specific individuals that I felt were useless and probably contributed to their demise, undoubtably these individuals know about my posts because by the third or fouth time I touched based on this subject other "insiders" responded saying my post was nothing more than a troll. Fuck them, and fuck their Los Gatos rich kid clique they rode in on.
Ricochet didn't die because of a bad product, they died from pisspoor management decisions. These bad managers surrounded themselves with even more idiots just to keep themselves looking good. Just because shit has perfume, it's still shit.
I recently saw a fellow ex-metricommer at a bar I frequent. I didn't recognize him because we worked in different departments (He worked for biztell, a company outsourced to sell ricochet)
Basically the story he told me corroborated my original theories of piss poor management leading to the companies demise a few years after I left.
Biztell was making the numbers for metricom, They had outperformed the other two companies partnered to sell the product. I think MCI and ATT were the other two companies licensed to resell the ricochet. (If i'm wrong on these two please correct me)
Somewhere along the line a new CEO came in to take over ricochet. As with all the previous CEO's he used his business network to raise some unneeded capital for the company. When they were still in their Los Gatos location which was a building owned by one of the Chairmen, they were actually starting to creep towards profitability, since the rent was low and Biztell was making their sales quota.
For some reason, this didn't sit well with the new CEO. During a lucid dream he had while smoking crack (joke) he got the idea that ricochet needed a downtown SJ address. Rather than seek pre-existing space, he decided to take all that capital he had just recieved, and invest it in real estate.
Later a suitable location was selected, and construction began on the new 2 building 4 story glass encased cubicle farm. (I heard the property was purchased from the CEO's buddy, the construction contract was given to another buddy, and everyone was lining everyone elses pockets on the whole deal)
Now all idiot CEO's know the best way to justify even more funding is to show a high burn rate. To facilitate this even more useless corpses were hired, and a add campaign began. Rather than focus on the merits of the technology the ads featured a sexy long legged model driving around in a silver Jaguar ala James bond. By the time you got done watching the ads, other than the quick flash of the ricochet name across the screen, it didn't really sell anything. I remember watching these ads and thinking how stupid they are.
At the same time prices for both the modem and the service were raised.
Well, as all stupid idea's go, the new corporate HQ, the ad campaign, and the rush of new employees drained the metricom coffers faster than a lapdance at your favorite strip club. Instead of being accountable for their actions, the executive board seeked a scapegoat for the declining sales. Biztell's contract was not renewed, and sales of the ricochet service plummeted along with their stock mcom.
Well we all know the end result. People came to the new corporate HQ one day to find it locked, and a bankrupcy notice glued to the door. It was over.
Now let's fast forward to the present.
Phonix networks (Not sure if thats right) Purchased the ricochet network for pennies on the dollar. I personally have no contacts within the company, but from what my freind whom I saw at the bar last week told me, it's no different than when mcom was owned by a bunch of rich guys from Los Gatos.
Re:What about Ricochet? (Score:2)
It's back [ricochet.com] in San Diego and Denver.
Re:What about Ricochet? (Score:2)
Re:What about Ricochet? (Score:2, Informative)
Ricochet was cool, but it was slow compared to (Score:1)
As for 5 GHz being a wimpy spectrum, no part of the spectrum is wimpier than another, but 5GHz does suffer rain and fog attenuation.
I friend from college operates a successful rural ISP
Re:What about Ricochet? (Score:1)
I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:5, Funny)
I can't wait
Hurrah!
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:1)
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:1)
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:1)
Guilty as charged (Score:1)
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:1)
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:2)
Simon.
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:2, Funny)
Please be patient. We are working on correcting this problem as quickly as we can. United States Government, LLP, thanks you for your continued business. Have a nice day!
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:2)
You say that now, but will you be so happy when you find out that your only new ISP option will be AOL-SW?
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:1)
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:2)
Re:I can't wait for it to reach Britain (Score:2)
No, cat detector vans use high-powered audio detection. Thankfully, radio frequencies will not interfere with their bleeding aerials.
The more the better. (Score:1)
Hey, more Hz is good.
They will find uses for each frequency range. Even if not the best, it's a start.
I think wireless networking is the coolest personal computing invention since the mouse.
Re:The more the better. (Score:5, Interesting)
They will find uses for each frequency range.
...all the while ignoring the fact that many frequency ranges are already used by astronomers to observe and study the universe. By polluting our window on the Cosmos, we risk losing the chance to discover how it all began. *Sigh*.
Re:The more the better. (Score:1)
Re:The more the better. (Score:2)
On to Mars then...
Re:The more the better. (Score:1)
Re:The more the better. (Score:2)
There is a great spot ready for such an observatory on the far side of the moon. The reality is that the political will to observe and study pure science at it's finest is not. To hold back the progress of society because of SETI or astronomical reasons is foolhardy.
Perhaps som
Re:The more the better. (Score:2, Informative)
Like the Ham radio bands. too many times the ham radio bands are sacrificed for the good of selling some damned service that will be done half assed.
EVERYTHING that has been invented in radio was invented in Ham radio first.
hurt the ham bands, and you hurt innovation.
Why choose a frequency that doesn't work? (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, okay. I'll stop complaining now. Everything will be alright.
Re:Why choose a frequency that doesn't work? (Score:1)
how unexpected....
Re:Why choose a frequency that doesn't work? (Score:1)
We just got.... (Score:1, Funny)
Whoa wait a minute here. Us rural folk out here in South Dakota just got electricity, now you want to give us wireless. Does this mean I could surf the net from my covered wagon and be warned of an Indian raid by my friends through my MSN Messenger
how about secure protocol?... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:how about secure protocol?... (Score:2)
Re:how about secure protocol?... (Score:1)
Re:how about secure protocol?... (Score:2)
Re:how about secure protocol?... (Score:2)
as long as (Score:5, Funny)
You don't want much more power! (Score:5, Informative)
Keeping the power down lets you use the same frequencys over and over again in the same city. If you went with more power and lower frequencys you would interfear with people accross town using the same frequencys.
You don't need more power to go the distance. For point to point links you can use high gain dish's to go the distance. To cover larger areas you just deploy lots of cheap lower power access points/routers.
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Power level has nothing to do with security.
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes it does. The less you use, the closer somebody has to be to your physical location to peek into your signal.
Think, then reply.
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:5, Insightful)
You can't assume how far your signal can be detected. If you're counting on distance to help protect your signal, unless it's a veeeery long distance without physical access, you are deluding yourself. What if someone is listening with very sensitive equipment? What if a firmware upgrade increases the output power of your gear? What if it's the office in the floor above you doing the evesdropping? There are a lot of what-ifs.
If you're thinking about signal strength in the same breath as security you have a lot to learn about what it means to be secure.
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
If your encryption can be cracked in a reasonable length of time, you have to assume it will be cracked and account for it.
Security is a binray condition, you are either secure or you're not. If you aren't you can choose your le
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Security is a binray condition, you are either secure or you're not.
Then you're not. If you're connected to a network, someone could get in. If FBI agents could be outside your home logging your every keystroke through a Tempest attack, you have to assume they are logging every keystroke and account for it.
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
You defeated your own argument. Thanks for pointing out that lowering the power causes an intruder to be in a very specific area.
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Listen people, merely reducing the risk does not mean your wireless is secure.
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Um.
"You don't want much more power, not only for security reasons but for frequency reuse!"
He did not say: "To make your wireless network secure, lower the power!" If he had said that, then your point would be worthwhile. But he didn't. He meant it as another aspect of it, and you've confirmed that lowering the power does assist in securing your network. This flies right in the face of your original statement: "Power
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Why would it matter? Because the bad guys hate to drive? Because you're counting on nobody really bad living on the same block as you?
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:2)
Re:You don't want much more power! (Score:1)
What's the difference? An antenna system is concerned with overall system gain, which is proportional to power and antenna gain. If you reduce the power, thinking, "Yeah, now we can reuse the frequencies", and then put up high-gain antennas to reach the same areas, the effective signal strength is
Wireless in the forest (Score:3, Funny)
They did this on purpose. (Score:4, Interesting)
No wonder the FCC is so benevolent as to donate this spectrum to wireless internet services - they know its about to become useless thanks to pollution from BPL.
Re:They did this on purpose. (Score:2)
WTF? How did they find this out? Customers' microwave ovens started blowing up ala Masters of the Universe?
No, seriously, short of having your dish pointing through power lines, how do you screw up a communications frequency that's more or less line-of-sight?
Great more crap spectrum (Score:2)
Why are we allowed it? Cause it's no use to anyone else. It has all the problems of the 2.4GHz band without the balancing advantage of upper atmospheric scatter like with 10Ghz.
When can I have my Wi-Fi LAN runing on ELF :)
Q.
Re:Great more crap spectrum (Score:1)
Probably after Christmas when the Elves are at the unemployment office.
Re:Great more crap spectrum (Score:2)
When you don't mind sharing a 50-75 bps channel (Score:2)
When you don't mind sharing a 50-75 bps channel with the nuclear submarine fleet and every other internet user in the world.
Lets create bigger Wi-Fi zones (Score:1)
This just in: FCC Changes Laws of Physics (Score:5, Funny)
I'm not sure if the FCC has the authority to widen the electro-magnetic spectrum.
Re:This just in: FCC Changes Laws of Physics (Score:1)
Re:This just in: FCC Changes Laws of Physics (Score:2)
Anything would be a step forward (Score:3, Insightful)
And no, DirecWay does not count.
Anything they would do to close that gap and allow us people who live out in "the country" to participate in the broadband revolution would be a blessing.
I keep hearing that broadband is failing because it costs too much or there is no real content that people want. No one ever mentions the fact that there is a large segment of the population that flat out has no real options.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to downloading my 152 meg game demo. It should be finished sometime before the sun explodes.
Re:Anything would be a step forward (Score:1)
But in your case you have seven miles, I have a 1 minute walk away from my house to the end of my road to find Cable lines where the cable company refuses to run down my road due to "not enough people" or some other bull they want to feed me.
They tell me I can pay to have the cable ran, but i would never be compensated for any income they generate. Great Deal!
Also, I am only a few hundred feet outside of the DSL serving area. Too much though for any real performance of DSL.
Re:Anything would be a step forward (Score:2)
Install the cable box there. Install a wireless router and an antenna and aim it at your house. Remove branches/trees as required.
Set up an antenna and AP at the house.
Would that work in your situation?
Re:Anything would be a step forward (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Anything would be a step forward (Score:2, Funny)
The Crimson Tide... (Score:2, Funny)
"Captain... Con... we've just been pinged".
"Pinged? Shit! Red Alert"
"Sir, there is an incoming message. It says... W...o...u...l...d....you....l...i...k...e....t..o
"Any more sailor?"
"Sir yes sir. e..n..l..a..r....g..e....y.ou...r..e.....p....e..
Realistic Solution Still needed. (Score:1)
Chart of radio frequencies circa 1996 (Score:5, Informative)
that shows how the radio bands were divided up in 1996.
Was this unallocated bandwidth? (Score:1)
so what i'm trying to ask is... was this bandwidth unallocated, or are we giving something up here?
lower frequencies (Score:4, Informative)
Re:lower frequencies (Score:1)
Re:lower frequencies (Score:2, Informative)
This is not entirely true. Lower frequencies will require more complicated modulaction schemes to get the same data rates, but it is still possible.
Also, we should be careful when using the w
Re:lower frequencies (Score:1)
Lower frequencies will require more complicated modulaction schemes to get the same data rates, but it is still possible.
What about shannon's law? At least with phone lines we can theoretically cut down the noise by creating a better medium. I don't think we'll be replacing the air with a lower-noise version any time soon.
Also, we should be careful when using the word "bandwidth" when talking wireless Internet. In the quote above, I think that it is supposed to mean datarates. However, bandwidth from
Re:lower frequencies (Score:1)
Re:lower frequencies (Score:1)
Re:lower frequencies (Score:1)
Re:lower frequencies (Score:2)
More expensive receiver technology can't compensate for noise. It's like trying to get a perfectly clear picture of the stars through an expensive telescope. Once you reach a certain point, you can't do any better. The atmosphere gets in your way.
At one to one comparisons, you are correct. I am not talking about one to one comparisons for equipment used in different bands.
I'm not either. I am talking about a theoretical limit.
Re:lower frequencies (Score:2)
OK. So lets summarize. For practical purposes (limited bugets and such), lower frequencies mean lower speeds. And for theoretical purposes (Shannon's law), lower frequencies mean lower speeds. Add the two together, and you find that lower frequencies mean lower speeds!
Re:lower frequencies (Score:2, Informative)
You are correct in that we must be careful with terminology, but even taken to mean RF bandwidth, my statement is still true.
At lower frequencies, bands will tend to be smaller. The 2.4Ghz band, IIRC is a couple hundred Mhz across. The 900Mhz band is only what... 5mhz wide?
The
Re:lower frequencies (Score:1)
It's 26MHz, but it doesn't matter. Wireless Internet has NO BUSINESS being there. It causes interference and makes it so that NOBODY ELSE can function there (ask anybody who lives near a Waverider site).
The FCC needs to allocate spectrum for this for everybody's benefit, not just those interested in wireless internet. If path loss is a concern, then raise the power or manufacture equipment that can handle modulation schemes that make operation in the propose
How about interferences with hearing aids? (Score:5, Interesting)
Will this FCC's decision going to make the situation worse for those who wear hearing aids like me?
Re:How about interferences with hearing aids? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How about interferences with hearing aids? (Score:2)
The last time I went to see the audiologist in 1997/1998, I asked about interferences from cellular phones. She said one didn't exist for decent price.
I will ask again when I go back when it is really time to replace my hearing aid. I just replaced the headband a few months ago due to detoriated wires.
It works for me (Score:1)
That article is clueless (Score:1, Informative)
There are ways to use 'lower' frequencies and not cause interferrence. However using lower frequencies means you MUST sacrafice bandwidth. Sure i know 'broadband' is something different in America than here in Europe. We have quality telephon
"New" spectrum is useless for wireless broadband (Score:4, Informative)
FCC management performs as well as .... (Score:2)
when they mentioned the walls and trees thing (Score:1)
anyone else have these thoughts?
because I'd love to have a wifi device that does that
Cap'in, Yah Kanno Due Thot (Score:1)
Nice trick if you can do it, I guess.
Like Scotty sez: "Its again' the laws o' Physics."
To the Engineer the glass is neither half full nor half empty
'power' vs 'frequency' (Score:1)
Wassat mean then? Is 'red' more powerful than 'green'? (does mauve have more RAM?)
Change In Laws Required First (Score:2)
They can't do that without first changing the laws. And the US Congress can't help them there. I wish them the best of luck in expanding the spectrum, we could use lots more space.
Meanwhile I think they'll have to make due by juggling some allocation of spectrum.
Re:Tin foil please. (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, those damn radio stations.
Re:Tin foil please. (Score:2, Funny)
SCO will come after you for violating the trademark!! or will it be Fox news?...
Re:Tin foil please. (Score:1)
Re:How about 15-meter? (Score:1)
Re:How about 15-meter? (Score:1)
Re:How about 15-meter? (Score:2)
It would be nice, but not even the FCC can change the laws of physics.