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by m-j-fox 3310 days ago
Yeah. If your neighbor has one 802.11b device and your router sees it on its channel then it has to get out of it's way, dragging your whole Network into the pits.

If you detect anything older than 802.11n, change channels or start knocking on doors.
4 comments
JPLeRouzic 3310 days ago
That is not true, all newer (than 802.11b) frames are encapsulated in a 802.11b frame, precisely to be compatible with it. At IEEE there are always discussions about to drop compatibility with 802.11b but usually someone reminds that in fact it is not a real problem.

What is a problem is that the preambule time is wasted, but it would not be too hard to imagine that even this preambule could be used for newer amendments after some homework.

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mjevans 3310 days ago
It's extremely annoying as some devices /only/ support B. They're quite legacy at this point, but some people still use older Nintendo handhelds that infamously only work on 802.11b with /very/ 'compatibility minded' options.

IMO the entire 2.4ghz public spectrum block should be viewed as for legacy support. However far more spectrum should go to limited range use. (Also, building walls should have filter meshes that absorb frequencies not designed for use with mobile computer to cell towers / GPS).

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JPLeRouzic 3310 days ago
In theory, that is not necessary, you can transmit information even if the spectrum is completely saturated, by using Wi-Fi backscatter like in: http://passivewifi.cs.washington.edu/

You neighbour's 802.11b will never see that another Wi-fi network piggybacks on him and goes 100 times faster. There is even not the need to use the cumbersome CSMA/CA.

Indeed it is not an existing amendment, but if you are interested I would be happy to help someone to present a few ideas at IEEE 802.11.

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khedoros1 3310 days ago
> If you detect anything older than 802.11n, change channels or start knocking on doors.

How do you expect the "knocking on doors" part to go?

"Excuse me, something using an old wifi standard in your home is stomping on my speeds. Could you either turn it off or replace it?"

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walshemj 3309 days ago
I suspect that minority of responses will be "Get orf moi laaaand!"
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angry_octet 3309 days ago
Well, that's not really true.

But if you did want to force someone to upgrade, you could always jam them... pretty easy to selectively jam a radio. Or crack their WEP (most 11b)... So many bad things.

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