Non Line of Sight Broadband

gfilion writes "IEEE Spectrum has an article about nifty wireless adapters that don't require LOS. At first, NLOS wireless may not sound like a big deal. After all, ordinary radios and cellphones are non-line-of-sight devices. But they don't carry broadband data. What makes the latest generation of NLOS wireless technology worth talking about and having is that it delivers data at high rates over substantial distances."

Comments

getting my life back

[orcldba]

Finally I can take down my tent under that tower and move in with girl I really love.

Noone wants broadband?

[Enry]

What if you built a network and nobody came? The February 2002 FCC report also cited a survey from the Strategis Group (Washington, D.C.) that found that only 12 percent of on-line customers were willing to pay $40 per month for high-speed access, a number that rose to only 30 percent when the price was dropped to $25 per month.

That's really strange. Doesn't AOL cost $30/mo already? What this apparently says is that even though users can have 24x7 net access at a higher speed that doesn't tie up their phone line for a lower cost, they'll stick with what they have.

Who paid for the study, Disney?

Am I the only one that's tired of radiation?

[green pizza]

Ok, I'm not scared enough to wear a tinfoil suit... but I'm somewhat worried about the rapid growth of wireless gear, especially those gizmos that brag about their ability to trasmit thru almost anything. Is there a point where our wireless usage will begin to cause some damage to the human body? That's a lot of energy zipping around every which way.

I know nothing about this field... but I am curious.

Re:Am I the only one that's tired of radiation?

[jandrese]

Better not go outside. There is the daystar thing some people refer to as the "Sun". This Sun emits tremendous amounts of radiation all across the spectrum. Fortunatly the stuff in the high spectrum is absorbed by the Ozone layer, but most of our radios operate at much lower frequencies than that. Be careful though, if you spent too much time in line of sight of the sun, it can actually burn your skin!

Re:ordinary radios ...are non line of sight

[Lumpy]

Not. not by a long shot.

FM is Frequency Modulation. it is a mode of transmitting. what you are talinkg about FM or the 88-108Megahertz broadcast band, is not line of sight. that low of a frequency has both ground waves and sky-waves. this is how in west michigan I can recieve WLUP Chicago on 97.9MHZ easily by swinging a directional gain antenna in that direction. Also, Frequencies from 88MHZ up past 450MHZ also can take advantage of tropospheric ducting.

Line of sight doesn't start until past 1.2 GHZ 802.11 equipment at 2.4ghz act like line of sight outside because of water vapro and water bearing items (leaves, squirrels, children) suck up large amounts of signal..

so NO FM is not line of sight. not in the correct term nor in your definition.