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Australian Researchers Push Near-Broadband IP Over VHF

Posted by timothy on from the verified-horse-feathers dept.

Curmudgeon Rick writes "A research group at the Australian National University is getting symmetrical 250K bps at 20km, using "empty" 7MHz-wide broadcast TV allocations in the 45MHz band. Story here, project homepage here. Aim is to put some bandwidth out beyond the reach of the wires, where users are few and far between."

10 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. broadband ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    i allways thought broadband was at least 10mbit, this is 'only' as fast as 4 isdn lines, sure better than dialup but nowhere near broadband..

    1. Re:broadband ? by Crypto+Gnome · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I believe than in Australia Telstra urged the government to defind broadband as "128Kbps and up" so that they (Telstra) could then claim that (whatever the exact statistic is) the vast majority of Australians have access to internet at broadband speeds.

      Something to do with Telstra being legally required to provide said "broadband" coverage, by a certain date, or be subject to fines/limitations on expansion into other markets/or something.

      No surprises here, just Yet Another Big Business redefining reality so that they can wipe their hands of their legally bound responsibilities and rape their customers for further profits.

      --
      Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
  2. near-broadband? by slavitos · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Interesting term, "near-broadband".... If I am not mistaken, broadband is defined as a communications medium that can be divided into multiple segments that can be used for different purposes (e.g. voice, data, video, etc).

    Isn't "nearbroadband" almost the same concept as being "almost pregnant"?

  3. Could be a nice alternative.. by iantri · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This could be a nice alternative for those of us who still aren't able to get broadband (No DSL where I am and Rogers Cable never bothered to run cable to the last three houses. Guess where I am! GRR), without all the potential problems with broadband over power lines (signal leakage, interfering with ham radio).

    1. Re:Could be a nice alternative.. by zerocool^ · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This is my *one and only* problem with moving out into the country. My fiancee and I are casually looking at houses, expecting to possibly be buying next spring (house buying season). With interest rates what they are, and property values going up quickly where I live (my parents bought their house 1995 for $154k, now worth >$300k), we'd like to get a house of our own, but not on a zero-lot-line, no privacy, near all the people kind of land.

      The only problem is: Move into the sticks, no always on internet. This would be a godsend for me - I don't want high speeds, I don't do online gaming, and I don't download a bunch of stuff, but I do want it to be on *all* the time. I want to be able to sit at my desk and see who's online on IM, and to check my mail or look at the news.

      This would be *perfect*. Hope they can figure out the details in the next few years. In the mean time, I may be investigating satelite internet.

      ~Will

      --
      sig?
    2. Re:Could be a nice alternative.. by anethema · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If you have a some high land nearby...or a small tower, you could set something up with a friend to use some of his/her bandwidth via a laser or WiFi connection. I'm setting up a 2 person laser lan with a friend of mine, and hes 20 km away. I've got to bounce it back across one hill because i dont have line of sight. 10mbps. It's doable.

      You also dont usually have to be too far from town to get a nice country home. I rent a place on 2 acres of green grassy land, 3 gardens, etc, for 950 a month. Of course I'm in canada, and there is probly a lot more nice available real-estate up here, but still, I live like 30 seconds drive from town, and 10 minutes from down-town kelowna.

      --


      It's easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
  4. There's a problem by carambola5 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    where users are few and far between

    Sorry, but speaking from purely a capitalist's point of view, the keyword here is few. As cool as the technology is, it'll never take off.
    --
    IWARS.
    People, in general, disappoint me. Politicians even more so.
  5. Yeah... by mindstrm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But the term "broadband" has come to mean "fast" in the common language. Thank the media for that.

    In the olden days, the highest speed things tended to be broadband, so the meaning just got twisted.

    I'd say, considering speeds and waht is noramlly known as broadband in the US... 250kbps qualifies as "near broadband"... people usually think 1mbps is broadband.

  6. Downtown areas. by jfisherwa · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As a frequency this low will generally pass through buildings and obstructions much more effectively, it's probably a more likely candidate for inner-city wireless broadband than 802.11 -- on a commercial level.

    If some ISP can obtain the correct licenses and find an existing 802.11 chipset with firmware-programmable frequency, they'd be the winners of all time.

  7. Re:This story is wrong. by Bruce+Perens · · Score: 3, Interesting
    You're talking about processing gain.

    If they were using direct-sequence spread spectrum, they could deal with multipath, too. Just don't be on the frequency when the echo arrives.

    Bruce

    --
    Bruce Perens.