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Another Tragedy of the Commons

     
  • Some businesses that wanted to subscribe got poor reliability -- intolerable when an Internet connection is a business' lifeline

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  • Problems were traced to unlicensed consumer wireless gear, including cordless phones, wireless stereo headsets, etc. (Under current FCC rules, each can radiate as much power as one of our hubs!) We haven't seen Part 18 lighting yet, but it could be devastating to Wi-Fi

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  • High end, multi-extension cordless phone systems generate large amounts of interference on unlicensed bands

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  • In some cases, businesses have had to move to different devices or shield antennas 

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  • No escape by moving to another band! As each band is approved, consumer devices follow wireless LANs and broadband to it.

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Lesson #3: To succeed, wireless broadband needs spectrum reserved for that purpose alone.