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TV White Space & The Future of Wireless Broadband

DeviceGuru writes "The unoccupied radio spectrum between broadcast TV channels may soon become a source of low-cost, ubiquitous broadband connectivity. Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission began Phase II testing of 'white space device' prototypes, to determine whether WSDs can operate without interfering with the other wireless devices commonly used in homes, offices, and public locations. A key advantage of white space wireless technology, compared to the combination of WiFI and WiMAX, is its TV-like ability to cover broad areas and penetrate walls and trees, using relatively low power levels."

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  1. Re:Practical value? by jonesy16 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You got modded as funny but I think this is the most insightful comment on this page and I was thinking the exact same thing. That's great if we can use TV-like waves to blanket a large area with low power, reasonable bandwidth internet access. But how the hell is the upload signal going to work? My homeowner's associate even tries to prevent us from having TV antennas on our roofs (which is against the law for them to prohibit, but that's another story). But if the signal really is pretty low power, maybe a small return signal can be sent using only a modest sized/powered home antenna, who knows?