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That’s not what I meant/said. It’s insane to me that we don’t just throw more spectrum at the problem. WiFi has definitively proven its utility and popularity.

That’s not what I meant/said. It’s insane to me that we don’t just throw more spectrum at the problem. WiFi has definitively proven its utility and popularity. It’s insane that we allocate more spectrum to things hardly anyone uses instead of something that literally everyone is using, all the time.

hamandcheese 3y ago
The reason I think it's not that insane is because WiFi works pretty well as it is. I don't know anyone who seriously struggles with WiFi problems... those that did bought a (albeit expensive) mesh system. The combo Wifi/modem that Xfinity gives out these days is also quite good, as much as I hate devices like that. The truth is, WiFi is mainly a "problem" for nerds like me who LARP as network administrators and want faster-than-gigabit speeds in every corner of their home.
- callalex 3y ago
  It’s holiday season, I still have a bunch of crappy quality calls with my family all the time. Talk to any doctor about their tele health experience, crappy WiFi gets in the way of them providing care coooonstantly. It’s WiFi that is the weakest link, the problems are rarely caused by the ISP.
  - incahoots 3y ago
    There's so much nuance to the WiFi problem. So many put the ISP owned gateways on the floor, behind a TV, in the basement, in the attic, etc. Like an overwhelmingly large amount do not understand that putting your gateway in a bedroom closet on the opposite side of the house when you need it in say, the living room is nearly always the problem. The only time I can recall when it wasn't for goofy reasons, was the launch of the Intel Puma chipset, where it would suffer from a CPU issue causing packet loss, or freeze until hard restarted. More reading here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/hardware/lawsuit-brewing-over-unfixed-bug-in-intel-puma-6-cpus/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/hardware/lawsuit-brewi...
  - MR4D 3y ago
    > It’s WiFi that is the weakest link... Uh, I have a beef with this. I worked in a hospital (multiple medical facilities actually), and there are many, many medical locations have wifi poorly rolled out. Hospitals are places that look nothing like a house from an electromagnetic perspective. If you don't put stuff in the right places, it won't work well. But if you do it right, then it works fine. And that's true of old buildings and new ones. - - - - EDIT - to clarify, it's not the wifi, it's the design of the wifi network (hotspot locations, backhaul, etc). It has nothing to do with wifi wireless technology itself.
  - supertrope 3y ago
    That’s why I still use a desk phone at home.
ianburrell 3y ago
We did just throw more spectrum at the problem. The 6GHz spectrum for Wifi 6E is a big change. It effectively eliminates the contention in higher bands. The downside is that need to buy new gear, and like all higher bands, need more AP.

hamandcheese 3y ago

The reason I think it's not that insane is because WiFi works pretty well as it is. I don't know anyone who seriously struggles with WiFi problems... those that did bought a (albeit expensive) mesh system. The combo Wifi/modem that Xfinity gives out these days is also quite good, as much as I hate devices like that. The truth is, WiFi is mainly a "problem" for nerds like me who LARP as network administrators and want faster-than-gigabit speeds in every corner of their home.

callalex 3y ago
It’s holiday season, I still have a bunch of crappy quality calls with my family all the time. Talk to any doctor about their tele health experience, crappy WiFi gets in the way of them providing care coooonstantly. It’s WiFi that is the weakest link, the problems are rarely caused by the ISP.
- incahoots 3y ago
  There's so much nuance to the WiFi problem. So many put the ISP owned gateways on the floor, behind a TV, in the basement, in the attic, etc. Like an overwhelmingly large amount do not understand that putting your gateway in a bedroom closet on the opposite side of the house when you need it in say, the living room is nearly always the problem. The only time I can recall when it wasn't for goofy reasons, was the launch of the Intel Puma chipset, where it would suffer from a CPU issue causing packet loss, or freeze until hard restarted. More reading here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/hardware/lawsuit-brewing-over-unfixed-bug-in-intel-puma-6-cpus/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/hardware/lawsuit-brewi...
- MR4D 3y ago
  > It’s WiFi that is the weakest link... Uh, I have a beef with this. I worked in a hospital (multiple medical facilities actually), and there are many, many medical locations have wifi poorly rolled out. Hospitals are places that look nothing like a house from an electromagnetic perspective. If you don't put stuff in the right places, it won't work well. But if you do it right, then it works fine. And that's true of old buildings and new ones. - - - - EDIT - to clarify, it's not the wifi, it's the design of the wifi network (hotspot locations, backhaul, etc). It has nothing to do with wifi wireless technology itself.
- supertrope 3y ago
  That’s why I still use a desk phone at home.

ianburrell 3y ago

We did just throw more spectrum at the problem. The 6GHz spectrum for Wifi 6E is a big change. It effectively eliminates the contention in higher bands. The downside is that need to buy new gear, and like all higher bands, need more AP.