re: Bandspeed's Six-Eyed GypsyThat explanation of how Bandspeed boost the user density close to the access point explains why we use bare lightbulbs with no reflectors for the headlights on cars.
A focused, narrow beam of light will always travel further than a diffuse broadly spread one given the same output from the source. Get yourself a Maglight and you can check it out.
Perhaps Bandspeed can actually explain how they achieve their improved performance?
re: Bandspeed's Six-Eyed GypsyIt looks like the hype over WLAN is finally over and WLAN fans are finally settling down to tackle the real issues of network engineering, especially physical layer radio network design.
Of course, the previous poster is correct, a 6 sectored antenna can only increase the power density in each sector and hence increase the maximum possible operating range (and hence a "240 degree" beam will actual offer a shorter range!)
But if you increase the the power density in a given direction then you increase the interference you generate in that direction and hence you effect other nodes in a different way than if you use omni antenna.
All of this is "rather complex" and you can only really see the effect of it if you simulate, or demonstrate, a big network of fully loaded nodes. Naturally, you will need to use a good radio propagation model (with fading and, if you are indoors, wall loss etc.) and you will need a good source model (poission distribution or self similar models?) and a good simulation of the 802 MAC. If you start to use 6 or more sectors than you will need to simulate at least 20 nodes (better would be 50) and then you should either use "wrapped space" techniques or only use results from the centre nodes.
Without running a simulation like that, or without building a network with say 30-50 nodes, each with your claimed capacity of 30 sources (>900 PCs generating packets), all you have is either pure marketing hype, or worse, a WLAN vendor business model based purely on hope.
Guys, if you are serious about bringing advanced WLAN products to the market, please be careful about what you claim.
re: Bandspeed's Six-Eyed GypsyI wouldn't say the hype is over by a long chalk. Intel is spending at least $300M on promoting its (somewhat outdated) chipset (see http://www.unstrung.com/docume..., CEOs still talk about WLAN as if it is going to save the world, and if you've looked at the monthly glossies recently you'll see that the PR machine is still in full swing.
A focused, narrow beam of light will always travel further than a diffuse broadly spread one given the same output from the source. Get yourself a Maglight and you can check it out.
Perhaps Bandspeed can actually explain how they achieve their improved performance?