From: "Dave Hughes"
Reply-To: fsc04news[at]freifunk.net
To:
Subject: Re: [fsc04news] how will regulators deal with soft radio?
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:51:21 -0600
Ya know, I read all the handwringing and anxiety over 'which' radio standard will be the Next Big Thing, or which will disappear beneath the waves and I shake my head.
To me, it really doesn't matter. Because:
1. Unlicenced broadband radios are here to stay.
2. Governments with spectrum rules, as the value of wireless to economies and the dropping cost of radios becomes evident, are making 'unlicensed' radios a world movement. Some slower than others, but all marching in the same direction.
3. All radios have limitations - either power and range, throughtput, adherence to one standard or another, ability to pass through walls or trees - and interoperability with other radios with other standards. Wi-Fi, Wimax, UWB, FH, Mesh, Proprietary, etc, etc.
4. As processing power gets ever more powerful and cheaper, radios can get smarter and smarter and 'work around' all kinds of things, including interference. Smart radios will do what no government can do. Figure out how to get through.
But ya know, having bought and used a bewildering variety of unlicenced radios for nearly 15 years now, I just don't lose sleep over 'which one' I should hold off to buy. I just look at what two points I want to connect, what minimum bandwidth is probably needed, where I need to get power from - a utility grid, or solar power and batteries - and I just go out and do it, never looking back. Because one good thing about most radios - which have no moving parts - just seem to last forever.
Can you believe that I am still using in my business Aironet wi-fi radios I bought what? 8 years ago (I can't remember its so long ago)? that I bought before even Cisco bought out the company and started getting into wireless itself. And now own Linksys? And I use really old early generation Breezenet radios with a proprietary standard in the 2.3ghz range, before they called themselves Alvarion and still make their own type of radios that can only talk to each other. But are unlicenced. And I still operate a 9 year really old Wi-Lan 'Hopper' 6 radio network (the ugliest boxy radios ever built) reliably delivering just about 1mbps at 902-928Mhz which cuts through trees and buildings that the best Wi-Fi radio can't. The only componet of which has failed was a power supply. And I have a really really old set of 128kbps serial-connected Free Wave radios in the frequency hopping 915mhz zone invented at least 10 years ago, but which still can reach 30miles line of sight. And which can be connected to a lan by a little serial-ethernet adapter. 128 Kbps? Not good enough for you? Remember how slow dial up was and still is? 56kbps at the very best, because of telco circuit switching standards?
I don't throw radios away, or 'recycle' them as scrap. I just reuse them for different needs. And let my grandsons play with them while learning the wireless arts. I'll bet they will last long enough that I can give a pair to my great granddaughter. And they go on and on and on like the Energizer Bunny. And just work.
Because the REAL standards that count and are not changing enough to count are 10baseT Ethernet, 9 pin RS232 serial, 6, 12, 24 Volt power, TCP/IP, and now SIP VOIP or even better Skype which can deliver good voice at 32kbps - dial up modem speed. Cause just about everything can be connected to everything, end to end. Worldwide. And so long as its Unlicensed and is not a Telephone Company fee charging connection, all I need are the radios, not the wired telephone Company. And where its REALLY hard to get to, even though more expensive, I can use a satellite ground station. Like the Sherpas are using in Nepal on the slopes of Mt. Everest.
So what's the fuss? When WiMax settles down, I'll probably buy some. When and if UWB starts gaining market share, I may, for specialized tasks, use that. For I KNOW any UWB, or WiMax radio will have to have an ethernet port at both ends.
So yes, as John Wilson remembered from Dsjurland, I said in Regulatory 101, spend your efforts prodding your governments to open up more and more unlicenced wireless, so you can do legally what one hell of a lot of people are doing in remote areas anyway. Rules or no rules. Cause these radios just work.
And they are going to get faster, cheaper, and more capable all the time. No body, no government, no telephone company, is going to stop it. Relax. And just go do it.
Dave Hughes
dave[at]oldcolo.com
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