Baby monitors and wireless TV transmitters are responsible for slowing down Wi-Fi connections in built-up areas according to an Ofcom-commissioned report. The regulator commissioned the report to evaluate the effectiveness of the unlicensed 2.4GHz band that Wi-Fi operates over.
The report smashes the myth that huge congestion on overlapping Wi-Fi networks is responsible for the poor performance of Wi-Fi in urban areas. Instead it points the finger of blame at the raft of unlicensed equipment operating on the 2.4GHz band. "There is a view that some domestic users generate excessive amounts of Wi-Fi traffic denying access to other users " claims the report from wireless specialists Mass Consutling.
"Our research suggests that this is not the case rather the affected parties are almost certainly seeing interference from non-Wi-Fi devices such as microwave ovens Audio Video senders security cameras or baby monitors."
via Programmica: Baby monitors killing urban Wi-Fi.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Baby monitors killing urban Wi-Fi
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3 comments:
Xeno,
back when i was the stay-at-home dad (the good ol' days) I picked up an unknown neighbor on my son's baby scanner and listened to a wife scream and yell at her husband about some, dumb random stuff, probably right in front of the boy. My kid was asleep. I also was downstairs one day and listened to the ex-wife upstairs speaking on the cell to her financial planner, making plans about "when her marriage came to an end...." and how I wasn't supposed to know about certain assets. My divorce attorney has since "discovered" the secret assets. people don't realize that wi-fi, cells and baby monitors are all overblown radios!!!!
With the 2.4 Ghz spectrum being so heavily use one can only suspect that there would be issues with Wi-Fi that operates with 802.11b/g. The b/g radios operate on the 2.4Ghz spectrum along with baby monitors, cordless phones, bluetooth,garage door openers, and just about anything else that uses wireless technology. Because there is so many other objects using the 2.4 Ghz spectrum Wi-Fi is going to suffer when using it as well. It is better to go with Wi-Fi devices that operate on the 5 Ghz spectrum, 802.11a or 802.11n. There is less noise from other devices on 5 Ghz and there are over a hundred more channels on the 5 Ghz than on the 2.4 Ghz.
People forget they are broadcasting. Reminds me of something I heard a long time ago, before cell phones. There was a rumor that "the government" could call any phone, suppress the ring, have it answer, and turn the phone into a bug. They supposedly caught some drug dealers this way. I'm sure nothing like that is going on with cell phones using today's technology. ;-)
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