InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[techinvester]

802.11b access points can have external antennas mounted to extend the effective range of coverage for hot spots. Typical maximum range is about 1500 feet with an external antenna mounted in an elevated position. The effective bandwidth however suffers with an increase in distance from the access point. Even though 802.11b specifies a data transmission rate of 11 Mbps maximum, the effective data transmission rate is actually approximately 5Mbps (i.e. the effective data transmission rate is reduced due to data packet overhead, etc.). 802.11a which has a much greater data transmission rate (approximately 5 fold increase) however suffers from an even shorter effective coverage range.

The biggest 802.11b liability currently is data security. The security of data is scheduled to be addressed in the 1st quarter of this year. There are more exotic methods of data security (VPN, MAC verification, etc.) but WEP (wireless encription) typically used is ineffective and can be hacked with $20 off the software in 20 minutes or less.

An effort was previously underway to gain permission to increase transmit power for 802.11 but ran head long into 9/11 terrorist fears and looks unlikely to be approved.

techinvester