Super Wi-Fi is a type of wireless Internet signal that is able to reach a much wider area than traditional wireless signals. This technology is currently being deployed in the U.S. using “white spaces,” or unused broadcast television spectrum.
This wireless broadband can travel up to hundreds of miles, but in daily life it would probably be closer a to few miles, blowing a few hundred meters with regular Wi-Fi out of the water. Technology like this has a lot of people excited, according to The Raw Story:
This could provide high-speed Internet to sparsely populated rural areas which lack broadband. It could also allow consumers to create their own hotspots, which could be used on devices while away from their homes….
Super Wi-Fi would be on “unlicensed” spectrum, like Wi-Fi, so companies would not bid on exclusive spectrum rights. This can lower costs. And there is often excess capacity, especially in rural areas, where fewer TV stations operate.
Rice University deployed Super Wi-Fi last year, and there’s a coalition of groups including Google and Microsoft trying to deploy Super Wi-Fi across rural college campuses, AIR.U. There are tons of possibilities with mobile that folks are excited about when it comes to this technology, but there are also obstacles, such as the fact that devices currently aren’t equipped to pick up the Super Wi-Fi signal.
To read the whole article, go here.
[Image Via Wayda Dreamscape]
Sara Inés Calderón is a journalist and writer who lives between Texas and California. Follow her on Twitter @SaraChicaD.
