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Samsung's Wi-Fi Upgrades Promise Speeds Up to 4.6Gbps

Posted by timothy on from the another-shifting-bottleneck dept.

The Register describes an advance in wireless speed announced by Samsung, which could make possible Wi-Fi speeds of up to 4.6Gbps in any device equipped with the new technology. By using “wide-coverage beam-forming antenna” and “eliminating co-channel interference, regardless of the number of devices using the same network” Samsung says it has cracked the problem and that products using its 802.11 ab standard could go on sale next year. Early products to use the technology will include “audio visual and medical devices, as well as telecommunications equipment.” Samsung also says the technology will be “integral to developments relevant to the Samsung Smart Home and other initiatives related to the Internet of Things.”

16 of 92 comments (clear)

  1. Typo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    It seems that the 60GHz wifi is 802.11ad , not ab (Anno Domini, not Another Bad)

  2. And this being samsung... by Torp · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... their software will look like a 2000 era flash app made by a 13 year old, be even slower than that and receive absolutely no updates; if there is even a minor problem with the standard, you will have to buy a new adapter to get the fix.

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    I apologize for the lack of a signature.
    1. Re:And this being samsung... by MRe_nl · · Score: 2

      As a boy who was 13 in 2000 making flash apps, I resent that...

      (j/k, I'm old).

      --
      "Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
    2. Re:And this being samsung... by jones_supa · · Score: 2

      ... their software will look like a 2000 era flash app made by a 13 year old, be even slower than that and receive absolutely no updates; if there is even a minor problem with the standard, you will have to buy a new adapter to get the fix.

      The background of that app is a grey gradient with lots of uneven banding. Over that there is text drawn with white MS Sans Serif font. When you change Windows DPI setting, the text becomes larger, but also horribly aliased and can't fit the window anymore. There is a button to check for updates, but you have never seen it find one. "Check update ..." "No update found !" When you restore the app from system tray you can see how it slowly paints its GUI. Then when you exit the app, it pops up a message box with the text "Error: NULL".

    3. Re:And this being samsung... by karnal · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well then you can stay on my lawn.

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      Karnal
  3. Never buying Samsung again by cyber-vandal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How long did it take to get KitKat to the Note 2? An eternity and it's not even the latest version. The last thing I want is that same disinterest in customer service being applied to my network equipment.

    1. Re:Never buying Samsung again by cyber-vandal · · Score: 3, Insightful

      All the security fixes and no I don't want to install a custom ROM where half the hardware doesn't work. I did look into that believe me. Stupid fanbois. The state of Android updating is crap and pretending it isn't or telling me to install some random piece of software doesn't absolve the world's largest smartphone manufacturer from its incredibly poor record.

    2. Re:Never buying Samsung again by Famak1994 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So you're amongst the 1% that was dealt a defective monitor? http://www.newegg.com/Product/... You know instead of sitting on your thumb and spinning you could have sent it back to Samsung for a replacement... Is this a site for techs or people pretending to be tech savvy?

  4. Err... Wait a minute... by Noryungi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Medical devices"?? On a wifi network???!!!

    What could possibly go wrong?

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    The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
    1. Re:Err... Wait a minute... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What could possibly go wrong?

      Lots of things, but you don't seriously expect medical professionals to use all wireless gear at home and then use all wired gear at work, do you? We live in this place called reality, it has called with your check. Check, one two. Is this thing on?

      With end-to-end encryption, there's really no reason to fear security on wireless networks. And indeed, we should be demanding that all medical devices implement strong encryption (IPSEC, perhaps, in this case, with a proven cipher suite) whether they are wired or not.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Err... Wait a minute... by paulkoan · · Score: 2

      A stethoscope is a medical device, and entirely tolerant of network failures. Add a sensor to it and wifi, and what it records could conveniently be saved to a network. It is just an internet of things device. If the network fails, it still performs its primary function.

      Not every medical device is life critical, and obviously (or perhaps it isn't obvious), the ones that are life critical are less likely to be designed around a flakey network connectivity model.

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      This signature intentionally left blank
  5. Distance by pahles · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How close do you have to be to the router with 60 GHz? I already have trouble with 5 GHz signals...

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    Sig?
    1. Re:Distance by alen · · Score: 4, Funny

      depends if your home has walls or not

  6. Always divide by 2, if not significantly more. by AbRASiON · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wifi specs are just bullshit, always have been.
    54mbit wifi
    theoretical maximum 6.75MB/s
    theoretical maximum, allowing for the standard /10 instead of /8 overhead rule: 5.4MB/s
    actual maximum attained speeds, over years and years of multiple networks/ cards / laptops / routers /location. 2.9 / 3.0MB/s

    It's only gotten worse for me, the higher the spec goes.
    If they claim 4.6Gbps I'd probably believe it might do 20 -> 40MB/s, actual, genuine, sustained transfers. Maybe.

  7. The Medical of Things. by geekmux · · Score: 2

    "...Early products to use the technology will include 'audio visual and medical devices'..."

    Uh, I'm sorry. Any company mentioning medical devices and the Internet of Things in the same sentence brings the death knell in my mind.

    Whatever pathetic security model they're thinking of shoveling into this device at the last minute before trying to ride the next billion-dollar revenue wave won't be enough.

    Keep your damn Internet of Things away from medical devices until you learn to implement at least common sense security. This ain't the next iPod killer, someone's life is at stake.

    While you're drooling over the projected revenue numbers, you might want to listen to your lawyers during the risk analysis part of the presentation...

  8. Re:wow, this site has really gone to shit by wiredlogic · · Score: 2

    I don't get the point of the aggressive post rate limiting. It really gets annoying when you try to post as AC and someone else in your IP range has locked you out with their own earlier post. It's sad that in the past year I have been able to get first post on articles that have been up for 10+ minutes on multiple occasions. The user base has receded significantly but they persist in these silly policies that inhibit the active users.

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    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.