3 ms·
Smaller cells do wonders. A LimeSDR with <200$ of general-purpose CPU/assorted components to work between the USB3 SDR and Gigabit Ethernet (and some <50$ anten
by namibj 7y ago
Smaller cells do wonders. A LimeSDR with <200$ of general-purpose CPU/assorted components to work between the USB3 SDR and Gigabit Ethernet (and some <50$ antenna + GPS-clock) is enough for a small 5G cell, where small primarily refers to single-channel and limited reach due to ~4mW output power (on each of the 2 antennas).
The reach can be increased for <50$ to at least a few hundred meters radius.
- Nextgrid 7y agoI don't understand, are you advocating for hobbyists to make their own 5G cells, or carriers? Why not use Wi-Fi at this point?
- mch82 7y agoI assume Namibj is suggesting a switch from our current hub-and-spoke ISP model to a peer-to-peer mesh networking model. Radio technologies have strengths and weaknesses. While WiFi works great in a home, other radio types are better at transmitting data long distance. The best solutions combine a mix of radios to leverage their strengths.
- superkuh 7y agoUnfortuantely it's not the radio technologies that allow the cell network to work. It's the cell network paying the big bucks for height above terrain on various towers, buildings, and the like. This is the problem mesh networks have to solve: height. Everything else is cheap and easy. But without height above terrain and line of sight it simply won't work.
- namibj 7y agoNot really. I mean that cells are cheap, so the increased density offers higher speeds (less sharing) and possibly new organizational structures due to a lower entry barrier.
- namibj 7y agoI'm advocating that cells are cheap, so the density can be increased by a lot. This might enable more local competition, but the main benefit of LTE is proper QoS support.