Running Interference

"The reason WiFi is so successful is it's in the same band pretty much worldwide, allowing for very cheap infrastructure and chipsets," says Mark Whitton, vice president and business leader for technology and business strategy at Nortel Networks.

Indeed. However, some observers say the problem is that the 2.4GHz spectrum in which 802.11b WiFi networks now operate is shared with other popular unlicensed devices such as cordless phones and baby monitors. Of course, as that 2.4GHz spectrum grows increasingly crowded, it creates the possibility for more interference issues, explains Ken Haase, director of product marketing for the WAN division at Proxim Corp. "5GHz is where we think people should be going," he says.

However, according to various reports, the Department of Defense has said that the use of the 5GHz band of unlicensed radio WiFi companies want to start using has the potential to interfere with national security. Reports say the DOD is asking that limits be set in the 5GHz band, which offers transmission speeds of up to 54mbps and more bandwidth than the 2.4GHz band. That would require WiFi equipment makers to implement new measures on their products to address that potential problem, which vendors say would drive up costs.

In another move on the WiFi spectrum front, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and George Allen (R-Va.) in November announced plans to introduce broadband legislation in the 108th Congress that would require the Federal Communications Commission to make more spectrum available for WiFi. The Boxer-Allen bill also requires the FCC to develop guidelines for the expanded portion of spectrum allocated for WiFi devices to avoid congestion. The senators said WiFi is limited to a small portion of the spectrum, confining its development.

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