01 Apr Microsoft’s new ‘beyond state-of-the-art’ Wi-Fi
Microsoft has been developing technology it says will one day help deliver wireless internet to the entire world — and now Seattle will be one of the first places to get to try it out.
The company announced Monday it is launching a free Wi-Fi-like network at Seattle Center that is about 5,000 times faster than the old system and is capable of handling 25,000 users at the same time without sacrificing connection speeds.
In other words, it’s super Wi-Fi.
The network is a pilot program as Microsoft continues to develop the technology. It has set up similar test networks around the world and, according to a release announcing the news, it may be able to be deployed to other neighborhoods around Seattle.
It relies on so-called “TV white space.” Basically, the company is going to broadcast signals carrying internet at the same frequency as unused television channels – the ones that look like white static when you tune in on your TV.
These frequencies can travel much farther than Wi-Fi and do a better job of penetrating buildings and other obstacles.
The Federal Communications Commission had long reserved even those unused channels for television broadcasters, but it released them several years ago under pressure from the technology industry
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