For those of you living on the periphery of net connectivity, small town USA or elsewhere, your download pleas may soon be answered. News from SlashGear tells of the very first so called “Super Wi.Fi” network having been deployed.
Now even Mayberry and Dogpatch could soon have blazing Internet. The first ever long range Wi-Fi network in the nation has finally been deployed in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The idea of a Super Wi-Fi network has been around for some time. For those who do not know, the term was created by the FCC to distinguish a new long distance Internet connectivity that operates in between TV channel frequencies. These so called “white spaces” will in effect give Internet service providers their own TV stations for delivering bandwidth to customers – wireless too. According to the plan, the FCC envisions these “Super Wi-Fi” services being free to consumers.
The reader may think to ask “why” this technology hasn’t been deployed before Wilmington. Well, the simple answer is that experts believed using these “blank” frequencies might have caused TV interference. Such cases have not proven out, so now people in rural areas may have a far better Internet solution than ever before.
Whether or not Super Wi-Fi will live up to expectations remains to be seen. This report, on Technology Review by MIT, shows both the benefits and suggested negatives of widespread use of such a network. One big concern centers around the limited amount of “white space” available where large numbers of TV stations operate. This is likely why Wilmington was chosen, the city being fairly large, but rural and somewhat remote geographically from other very large towns.
For those of you who have lived without a decent connection, maybe having been forced to just rock on the front porch instead of shooting Angry Birds, PC World suggested the 100km range or Super Wi-Fi as a cure. Let’s hope the FCC is right, or else Mayberry and Andy Griffith may interrupt your Farmville, or YouTube viewing time even. One thing’s for sure, if Super Wi-Fi fails, the FTC will have Barney Fife to contend with.
Mashup courtesy © Beboy – Fotolia.com & © ioannis kounadeas – Fotolia.com
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