Slashdot Mirror
Idaho Companies Tout New Wireless Record
pavelvp writes "A small wireless Internet service provider in Idaho and a wireless equipment start-up claim to have set a new record for transmitting data across a wireless link this week. Microserv Computer Technologies, based in Idaho Falls, and Trango Broadband Wireless, a fixed-wireless broadband equipment maker, announced that they transmitted data over unlicensed wireless spectrum 137.2 miles." This unverified record would beat the previous record holders from the DefCon WiFi Shootout covered earlier on Slashdot.
Did the equipment include any Idaho Potato Batteries (tm)?
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
Uhh, I'm pretty sure voyager 1 has the record for data transmission across a wireless link.
Only on slashdot can a posting be rated "Score -1, Insightful".
Apparently its not off the shelf stuff like the previous record holders. I'd argue that the defcon crew had a harder time and definitly should get to keep the title
I was under the impression that the record reflected everything on the 802.11x band, not any wireless transmission. :/
In this case, technically NASA would win by sending wireless info from sattelites.
Maybe I'm just not RingTFA correctly.
+5, Truth
"What sets apart the 125-mile record set at the Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest is that it was subject to a strict verification and certification process administered by four independent judges."
That, and the fact that the Defcon record was set using standard 802.11b radios rather than proprietary technology, and that the proprietary technology only beat Wi-Fi by 12.2 miles.
And nothing gets put in this book (i probably spelled it wrong) unless it is verified by one of their reps. Since I really don't care for the guiness book of records, I would settle for an independent third-party verification.
If they did do this - way to go. Hopefully it is a stable signal and not a flaky one.
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
Note that Defcon has records for unamplified long distance links.
-Adam
When the area isnt built up, signals travel better.
in other news, idaho actually has companies based in this farming state.
Okay it's unverified, but that's a good distance if it is indeed true. :) But it begs the question - "How are we going to secure a wireless area that large if there's issues with smaller coverages?" What is the benefit of an area that large if they select who has access to the network? Any ideas on how they'd regulate people just hopping on the signal?
I'm working on a good joke about your mom being
Maybe this sort of thing can compete with cable for rural broadband...DSL doesn't go to my house.
Too bad somebody beat me to the potato battery joke.
Procrastination -- because good things come to those who wait.
DefCon: unamplified 802.11b; 11Mbps link; judges present & claim verified.
These guys: closed, proprietary protocol; 2.3Mbps link; no one around to verify facts.
As far as I'm concerned, the DefCon claim holds.
That's on a liscenced frequency, you insensitive clod!
They now also hold the record for the biggest and most obnoxious ad at the top of their webpage.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Aside from that... what spectrum did Voyager use, was it unlicensed?
At least one good thing came out of my hometown. Now if they can just make wireless recivers less than $600 dollars they may have something.
Why sweat over WiFi when you can get wireless access anywhere in North America for $80/month?
A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote in an election.
Unsubstaniated Rumors for Mongers. Stuff that doesn't mean shit.
OK, How hard is it to repeat before Respected IT professionals? Just once before presstime.
Proprietary not WiFi. The previous 125 mile record is across the Las Vegas desert using standard 802.11b Wi-Fi radios.
Even if they actually beat the distance with 132, it requires using proprietary equipment.
Never gonna beat those pigeon guys.
OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
He's only being a spamming whore as much as scuttlemonkey. Do your fucking job, slashdot editors. Give us news, not advertisements.
+5, Truth
This is nothing but a publicity stunt to stem the hemorrhaging of disgruntled users jumping to DSL and Cable (which has been slow in coming to the mountain west). Microserv leaves a lot to be desired as an ISP/WISP -- they were run out of neighboring Jackson Hole, Wyoming due to crappy service and some weird, gang-style rivalry coming from a falling out between the founders. These guys don't deserve the /. press.
It could be argued that there is no current body with the authority to license spectrum outside of Earth.
Unless the FCC claims the whole of our solar system in it's domain.
as it is a free advertisement/coming out party for some product they are testing and hoping to bring to market. Nothing to see here, move along.
My humor is probably your flamebait
All these long-distance radio records are being set with antennas attenuating all the signal into a (directional) narrow cylinder, rather than an (omnidirectional) sphere. What kind of performance could we get if we used a "radio laser", of coherent light in the 2.4GHz band, collimated into a long needle? Could we get transcontinental beams? Is it especially hard to make lasers in that band, and to modulate them for the WiFi signal? Is there a lot of latency, as the light bounces around in its resonant cavity before emerging coherent and pumped up to useable power? Couldn't we just modulate the "raw" laser as it was leaving the cavity?
--
make install -not war
I thought it was a well-known fact that Idaho does not exist.
"The objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved." -- John Ashcroft
Ya, they probably do claim that.
Be sure to remember the Programmers Prayer
Forgive my ignorance, but when I drive up from Southern California to Northern California, there is still nothing to do in the car. Have any of these wireless networks been implemented for anything other than records? I would love to see huge areas blanketed with wireless.
It could be argued just as effectively that, since that distance was not of our world, what Voyager did doesn't qualify for a world record.
Unless the FCC claims the whole of our solar system in it's domain.
That wouldn't surprise me.
AFAIK if you want (in Germany at least) to use one of the several freely available radio frequency bands,you'll have to stay in tight barriers when it comes to a)output power b) signal "precisity" (do not spread into other bands AND DO NOT INTERFERE with electronic equipment) and c) antenna gain.
so - 200dB antenna just would be illegal. There's nothing with license-free since you in fact would violate laws and void your permission to use the bands.
Maybe that's unimportant since all that record has in common with previous records in Wifi-distance are frequency.
--be smart today. emit a bit. and get bitten!.
I have to say having experienced Microservs broadband links I'm not impressed. The mileage of the connection is impressive however their service routinely sucks. Dropped coonnections, low uptime, high prices for slow speeds.They have good latency when it actually works properly though :).
Qwest DSL or CableOne has Microserv beat all hollow. Even the local Teton Wireless internet kicks their ass. But Teton wireless does have some pretty impressive speeds for a long range wireless link (I've seen it get as high as 5Mbps down and 2Mbps up).
"The boy is dangerous, they all sense it, why can't you?"
This whole business of 'records' for wireless transmissions is just so silly, a game of 'mine is bigger than yours'. Until these folks are actually communicating with stuff that's farther from this planet than geostationary orbit, then, there's already plenty of folks communicating without wires, over distances far greater than 137 miles, as part of normal everyday operations, so common in fact, nobody thinks twice about it. For one off custom setups, well, there's a couple of little robots traversing around mars that do it daily. For highly specialized 'record breaking' stuff, look out to cassini and beyond.
It's spelled like the beer, cause those are the people that started it. They did it to try and curb bar fights over useless statistics.
I wonder what the limit might be for an omni-directional to a directional antennae setup. Or, between two omnis....
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
Far greater distances are possible, it is only a matter of getting the antennas high enough. This latest shot is done form a 9,000+ mountain to a 8,000+ mountain.
If you could place a Wifi satelite in orbit, you'ld be able to run an even longer link. It's not a matter of power, it is a matter of Line of Sight(LoS) and the freznel zone. If the shot was straight up, the distance would be incredible.
Marconi's Poldhu Wireless Station received transatlanic signals from 1800 miles away on December 12, 1901. By 1902, he received messages 700 miles by day and over 2,000 miles at night.
That would be in keeping with the hubris of the contemporary American leadership.
"The equipment used was not based on standard 802.11 wireless technology, but instead was based on proprietary radio technology from Trango."
This would seem to be irrelevant to the Defcon record which was unamplified standard 802.11.
It's comparing apples and oranges, isn't it?
I suppose you can say it's a new "wireless" record, but then what about the Navy's ULF submarine communication methods? Aren't they "wireless"? And they go a lot further than 100 miles.
This seems like an advertising stunt to me.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
they could get my wireless broadband to work over a 1/4 mile distance with a couple of trees in the way.
DISCLAIMER: This post was not checked for speling and grammar- if you complain- you're a whiner
Wow, Idaho made it to /., too bad it's Microserv. Their signal strength will grind to halt wildly, clear or cloudy. I service two hotels networks in the area. I kept getting calls the network ground to a halt, every time its confirmed the problem is on their end. Wireless ISP's are for those who cannot get DSL or cable, and definitely not for critical operations. Most DSL companies can get the higher 3-6 megabit cable to centralized areas. Whatever Microserv is claiming they can deliver is like the early PS2 benchmarks. On a clear day, line of sight, with not other neighbors hogging traffic, and no electromagnetic interference.
Sidenote, while traveling tell people you are from Idaho. It's either, "What country is that?" or the conversation will lead too potatoes. Even though everyone out does us on potatoes as a cash crop. Our river rafting kicks ass though...
Is there anything better than clicking through Microsoft ads on Slashdot?
I work with the wireless industry (as part of a job in networking software), and I have to point out an error in the summary. Trango is not a "start-up". They have been around selling nice radios for years.
My Photography - http://ian-x.com
The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
The best record in 2,3 Ghz is 1560 km
or 16475 km if use the moon
http://www.ham.se/vhf/dxrecord/dxrec.htm#F
You only need more erp, bigger disk, more power, or slower speed to improbe S/N
Those Idahoans! Always bragging about how "mine is longer than yours".
Mike
Hayden Lake, Idaho
From what I recall, it seemed to work in the local taverns. Of course, it really doesn't matter who wins an argument as long as a round of Guinness is to be shared. Long live ireland (and it's wonderful beers)
Mod parent DOWN! Let's not give George W. Bush any ideas!!!!
It could be argued that there is no current body with the authority to license spectrum outside of Earth.
Next, on 60 Minutes, why stars really appear to die.... and Andy Rooney!
See the really cool streaming video of the "WiFi" record: http://pasadena.net/shootout05/
I guess it's small potatoes in the scheme of things, though.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
TROLL?? Bullshit, this is a legitimate concern - are you mods that stupid????
Looks like the real speed was actually a lousy 5 KB/s:
http://www.wifiworldrecord.net/24ghz.htm
Maybe he'll learn this time?
Idaho has 53 nuclear reactors that have been operating before you were in diapers! http://www.inl.gov/ Several projects are still classified. If you're curious, check out the advanced test reactor, one of three at the Reactor Testing Complex.
I have microserv internet, and besides the wierd latency problems its great. But they are going to get a call from me now I'm looking for this new internet to come to me.
Normality is now: overrated.
If there was ONE cliche story I'd like permanently removed from slashdot, it'd be these "XXX beats previous wireless record by X meters" stories that seem to pop up every 2 minutes.
Nobody fucking cares. It's a total waste of my fucking time and this shit only belongs in the crappy blog of whatever unoriginal loser just beat the "record".
Clear?
The more antenna gain you use on these part 15 devices, the less power you are allowed to use.
Did they reduce power as required?
I'll bet not.
If you disagree with me on social issues, then it's pretty clear that you are a narrow-minded bigot.
At least the ground stations. Of all the spectrum out there the space communications bands are heavily gaurded - you don't want your new billion-dollar sat sent crashing to earth because of some yahoo's CB.
1 sinst.html
From: http://pds-rings.seti.org/voyager/datasets/rss/vg
The spacecraft radio system was constructed around a redundant
pair of transponders. Each transponder was equipped with an
S-band receiver (2115 MHz nominal frequency) and transmitters
at both S-band (2295 MHz nominal) and X-band (8415 MHz nominal).
Compared with S-band, X-band is less sensitive to plasma effects
by a factor of about 10; use of both frequencies coherently on
the 'downlink' allowed estimation of plasma content along the
radio path. Use of X-band also significantly improved the
quality of radio tracking data for gravity investigations.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
For the 99% of the population that doesn't want to transmit data between two mountains, this is useless. You need those two mountains to get past the distance limitations imposed by the curvature of the earth.
AccountKiller
- Different power levels: They are obviously using more power than the unamplified WiFi gear, otherwise they'd need bigger recieve dishes
- They aren't using 802.11, so it's apples vs oranges
- They didn't have to have one end at (near?) DefCon in Las Vegas, so they have far different terrain.
Maybe I'm just cynical, but what's the big deal? If you want to talk distance records, my personal opinion is that the record to beat is about 250,000 miles, with full NTSC video. It was set way back in 1969, with a very large audience in attendance. That was a giant leap for mankind!--Mike--
Don't feel bad. When my mom announced we were moving here 7 years ago from NY, I had to go grab a map too :).
"The boy is dangerous, they all sense it, why can't you?"
Who cares about using point to point wireless in the unlicensed bands? Licenses for moderate power for point to point data links are easy to get and the equipment is cheap.
Now a record I'd like to see - use your access point to establish a record for the most number of stations distributed over a wide area. That's useful.
Sprint used to have a service in the SF Bay Area back before DSL caught on. It was $50/mo, 10Mb, licensed spectrum in the S-band, used a pizza box sized antenna on a tripod on your root, and you had to be line of sight to one of two mountaintops in the area. They stopped accepting new subscribers about 2000 but I heard somewhere the system was still up.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
Then again, you could choose to live your life scared to death that 'pirates' may take over your little boat world, and go hide under uncle sam's skirt to prevent it.
We're posting unverified news now? I mean, it's not like this is anything new, but even the article says it's only "claimed" that they did this. What's the point? Hey, look at me! I beat their record be three billion kajiggabits! Proof? I don't need to show proof, I just claimed it! Seriously, people. Next thing, we'll be getting posts about UFOs, crop circles, and intelligent decesion-making from Bush.
Tluin natha Linux xxizzuss uriu olt bwael mon'tun.
I doubt the poster was inferring that the US Navy would do such a thing. I imagine you'd have to pay them an unfathomable amount of dough.
Seems that they accomplished something that was five times slower than the Defcon guys. They also did it without using wifi equiment. That is truly impressive. Keep up the good work.
Well if you're US registered, they still have a hold of you in International Waters.
a ritime.html
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/io/m
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
You're talking rubbish. If your boat is US registered they certainly can and do regulate your use of spectrum in International Waters.
a ritime.html
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/io/m
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Then I suppose the boat would have to be registered somewhere else for this to work.
Normality is now: overrated.
Won't someone please take WiFi up in an airplane and wipe out all these measly 100+ mile line-of-sight records?
/applied power record for EARTH-MOON-EARTH WiFi, that's worth doing.
Now if somebody wants to shoot for the average bandwidth
WiFi to Paris from Frisco, that'd be cool.
Course, maybe that's just too tough for you guys.
Hey, wait a minute. I just remembered. I sent morse code to Vega in 1960 by flashlight.
... then there goes all your dumb records.
The return should be back in 5 years
"You must try to forget all you have learned. You must begin to dream." -- Sherwood Anderson