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WiFi Offloading is Skyrocketing
dkatana writes: WiFi Offloading is skyrocketing. This is the conclusion of a new report from Juniper Research, which points out that the amount of smartphone and tablet data traffic on WiFi networks will will increase to more than 115,000 petabytes by 2019, compared to under 30,000 petabytes this year, representing almost a four-fold increase. Most of this data is offloaded to consumer's WiFi by the carriers, offering the possibility to share your home internet connection in exchange for "free" hotspots. But this article on InformationWeek Network Computing also warns that "The capacity of the 2.4GHz band is reaching its limit. [...] the growing number of WiFi devices using unlicensed bands is seriously affecting network efficiency. Capacity is compromised by the number of simultaneously active devices, with transmission speeds dropping as much as 20% of the nominal value. With the number of IoT and M2M applications using WiFi continuously rising, that could become a serious problem soon."
I have my revenge!
I wouldn't be caught dead sharing my wi-fi. There are companies that try to make a living threatening to sue you if they see downloads coming from your IP. Even if you're innocent it costs more to litigate than to just pay, but you're still out $5k...
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With the number of IoT and M2M applications using WiFi continuously rising, that could become a serious problem soon.
The solution is simple, get rid of the "Idiots of Tomorrow".
will will increase to more than 115,000 petabytes by 2019, compared to under 30,000 petabytes this year, representing almost a four-fold increase
10 terabytes would hold all the information stored in the Library of Congress. A single petabyte is a hundred times that.
Perspective
Um, that's because the vast majority of the Library of Congress is text information. I'm pretty sure that their collection of cat videos is severely lacking... (grin)
I suspect that the FCC will eventually have to step-in. One of the Part 15 rules is about not interfering, and clearly that's not working out so well. I can imagine a day when power levels have to be so low that an AP is basically only good for the room that it's in, or that's the default programming on an AP even if the end user might be able to raise it, and then the process to raise it would require bringing it up in steps, so that the user is encouraged to keep testing as they keep raising the level, so that they stop when they find enough power.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
The real reason for the cell companies to "offload" data is to ease the load on their networks. OK, I understand that ... and I realize that it could save me money. If I'm in a hotspot, why not use that instead of eating my limited data plan?
But honestly, Verizon has almost gotten ridiculous with it. Little beg screens ("are you SURE you don't want to connect to wireless?" -- it was a happy day when I figured out how to kill that one), refusing to open Web pages if I'm just beyond the range of a known hotspot, and worse.
Verizon is VERY aggressive about offloading.
Given how much it costs to build a new tower site nowadays, I can understand, but don't be fooled: the benefit of offloading is primarily for the cell carrier, and NOT for you. :)
Cogito, igitur comedam pizza.
No wonder you have a biological intake issue.....a mouth would really help!
No, we are not.
Just because you are paranoid does not mean that no-one is out to get you.
This whole stupid scheme to have open residential WiFi everywhere is going to blow up in their faces. Sooner or later a script kiddie package will come out that sets up fake APs spoofing all the ISPs login pages to steal credentials and grab sensitive data.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
One of the Part 15 rules is about not interfering, and clearly that's not working out so well.
I don't believe the FCC cares about Part 15 devices interfering with other Part 15 devices. From the rules:
CFR 47 Part 15.5
(b) Operation of an intentional, unintentional, or incidental radiator is subject to the conditions that no harmful interference is caused and that interference must be accepted that may be caused by the operation of an authorized radio station, by another intentional or unintentional radiator, by industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) equipment, or by an incidental radiator.
(boldface is added for emphasis)
In other words, a Part 15 device that interferes with another Part 15 device is cool, since Part 15 devices are offered no protection from interference, intentional or unintentional.
The law is written so that Part 15 devices are not allowed to interfere with licensed devices.
I run the campus and dorm WiFi system at the university that i work at. We have many 250 room(500-750 people) residence halls that use around 30 3x3 802.11N dual band (2.4 and 5.8) access points each (we have a total of ~270 APs in 9 halls). The 2.4Ghz band is perfectly usable ALL of the time(at least 1.5Mbps usable data throughput at all times). Our students usually have around 2000-2500 devices on each band (we allow EVERYTHING except bit torrent) with game systems/appleTV/anything....we do not disallow any device as long as it doesn't impact other people.
Now how do we keep 2.4 usable in an environment like that? We manage the crap out of it. First we only allow channels 1,6,and 11 to be used. This keeps anyone from stepping on two channels at once. We also (and this one helped a lot!) turned the N protocol bandwidth width to 20Mhz instead of 40Mhz. At 20Mhz, you have 3 completely separate channels. When the width is 40Mhz you basically chew up 2 open channels at once.....so all channels are always walking over each other. Although this does decrease raw throughput of a client, it almost doubles the amount of usable connections per radio and helps a lot with the further away users from the AP. We also do 5 minute power and channel tuning where the system keeps all that balanced as usage differs. We also do not allow anything slower then 11Mbs to connect at all. This has a two fold benefit. One being that it makes sure the client/AP stays with the closest one to it and two...and this is the HUGE biggie....it increases the efficiency of the 802.11 time slice distribution. 5.5Mbps requires 10ms per client in radio chat time that the client gets regardless of how much data it is sending or receiving. 2 and 1Mbps requires 20ms! The old 802.11b is horribly inefficient and actually causes less clients to be able to connect to a given AP. Turing of everything but 11Mbps increased AP/client concentrations around 40%. Another thing we do is NOT impose is per connection speed limits. We found this reduces amount of usable connections per AP(about 10%) and slows down everybody for no benefit 802.11 is good at balancing throughput between all clients already. We also force transfer anyone off the 2.4 band that is 5.8 capable. The last thing we do is have alarms for when the system shows very high levels of interference on the 2.4 band. Sometimes this is a bad cordless telephone or something but 90% of the time......it is a stupid microwave that went bad. In dense university living areas, they are EVERYWHERE!! Especially since the students buy the cheapest ones they can find. One bad microwave will kill 2.4 in an entire area.
Now...all that being said...when people tell me that 2.4 is crowded and slow because it is unlicensed, I tell them no....it's just managed very, very badly. I have been wishing that one day in the future...hopefully soon as i have requested it during the public comment phase of the last few 802.11 standards...that good spectrum management would be added to the WIFI standards to help with this. The best they do now is look around and try not to be on the same channel. I wish there could be some extremely low level protocol where all access points as part of spec, discuss the rf environment and attempt to keep it sane instead of the apartment fun of 100's of APs all blasting at MAX power to try and get it's voice heard over everyone else's voice. Last time i went to a friends apartment, he was complaining his wifi was slow. When i looked at the rf information.....the noise floor was freaking -62dbm. I told him it will never work right in that environment.
Doubtless it is possible but you really need to hammer the network to do that. What is more they're ignoring that the N standard doesn't use 2.4 ghz.
Been there done that, chumps.
I manage a few wifi networks that routinely have a couple hundred people on them immediately next to other networks that have a couple hundred people on them next to other networks that have a couple hundred people on them... all right fucking next to each other. The only way these networks could be more on top of each other is if all the users spooned on each other.
There aren't any issues with it. What I find fucks with wifi is big thick walls. Shocking I know... Oh and microwaves. Guy goes into the rec room to heat up a burrito or something and anyone using the 2.4 ghz networks starts to have issues. I put up amusing signs informing people of the issue.
Regardless... most new machines are N compatible so... why not use that? I use it because I can. I don't really need the speed difference since the only thing I'd do over wifi would be to browse the internet.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Almost everybody's on 2.4 GHz, and the bands overlap with each other as well as with your microwave oven. If you can run your Wifi on 5 GHz, and don't have distance problems, it's really what you want.
Unfortunately, while my Linksys WiFi router can use both frequencies, it can only use one at a time, and I've got a few 2.4GHz-only devices in the house, so I'm stuck with 2.4. Occasionally it gets tempting to switch it to 5 GHz and drag out its dumber predecessor to run 2.4 on. (I bought the newer one because I needed 802.11n to compete with all my neighbors' 802.11n drowning out my wimpy 802.11g system. I was also surprised to find that it didn't support IPv6 sigh.)
Bill Stewart
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Indeed.
And the only licensees I'm aware of for the 2.4GHZ Part 15 ISM band are HAMs.
Which are about the friendliest bunch around when it comes to talking about RF, even if they are licensed for tens-of-Watts and you are an unlicensed, must-accept-interference consumer.
Kid-proof tablet..
Perhaps you could install an antenna on the roof and repeater inside your house
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
Where do I send ... my bill when my carrier exceeds the cap I imposed on their use of my WiFi hub?
This is really the whole thing.
.mp3 file that called her by name and politely told her to knock it off. Ghost in the machine.)
ISP-imposed hotspots (all I've seen) require you to log in to the carrier before you can use them. So if you're a Comcast customer, you log in with your Comcast ID, and you're on the 'net. Whoopie.
The problem, of course, is that this is just a "foot in the door" to charging you for that usage.
That's why I, and EFF, say you should set up your own public WiFi hotspots, bypassing those imposed by your ISP.
I've had a NON-ISP open WiFi hotspot -- with pretty damned good range -- for about 5 years now, and only had one tiny problem with a neighborhood teenager abusing it. Nipped that right in the bud, and I didn't even have to ban her. (In fact I think she was pretty freaked out by getting the
So the non-ionizing radiation has started...ionizing?