FCC moves to free up nation's Wi-Fi networks [telecom]

Thad Floryan 13 years ago

The following article:

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is copy'n'pasted with several typos corrected below:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to relieve crowded Wi-Fi networks that people use in hotels, airports and other public places by increasing available bandwidth for unlicensed consumer devices.

As any of us can attest, when a lot of people use a wireless network, speed goes down. As digital demand for bandwidth skyrockets with each new tablet, smartphone and PC, the body has taken closer looks at how to keep people communicating on the wires and, like adding more hoses to a firetruck, looked for ways to increase speeds.

The commission proposed making a large chunk of high-frequency spectrum

-- basically, air waves -- in the 5 GHz band, available for use by unlicensed devices, including gadgets like home routers. The FCC will now allow a public comment period, which can take a year sometimes, after which it will finalize the regulations.

[Moderator snip]

Citations and Links:

High-frequency spectrum chunk:

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Gary Shapiro Consumer Electronics Association CEO statement:

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New York Times article:

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***** Moderator's Note *****

802.11A devices already use channels in the 5 GHz range. How is this different?

Bill Horne Moderator

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Scott Dorsey 13 years ago

This does not appear to be the right docket, this is for permitting cell phone boosters.

These articles are very interesting, in part because they don't really talk about what the spectrum being reallocated is, although the second one mentions some of it.

Basically, adjacent to the ISM band, there is a government band. The primary allocation of that government band is to the FAA where it was originally intended to be used for the microwave landing system, which never really got off the ground. Because the FAA didn't use the spectrum and because it's near an ISM band with cheap and easily modified hardware, a number of other government users have obtained allocations in that band on a onesie-twosie basis.

So basically this is a matter of the FCC taking NTIA bandwidth which is underutilized [...], and joining it into the existing ISM band used for WiFi.

Contrary to the frequent claims of the press, bandwidth cannot be created, it can only be taken from one user and given to another.

--scott

- - "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

***** Moderator's Note *****

If the Microwave Landing System never got off the ground, wasn't it doomed to start with?

Bill Horne Moderator

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unknown 13 years ago

MLS was a good idea before satellites but has been replaced by the cheaper GPS/WAAS systems

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