‘Super Wi-Fi’ blankets first county in US

January 27, 2012

New Hanover County, North Carolina, recently rolled out “Super Wi-Fi,” operating in the “white spaces” between 50–700Mhz, where previously only television stations were allowed to transmit, reports Technology Review’s Mim’s Bits blog.

This could mean high-speed wireless connections for the county’s residents, and also the potential to connect to Wi-Fi towers that are miles distant (not possible with conventional Wi-Fi).

However, high-power Super Wi-Fi signals (up to four watts), which can travel for miles, must give TV channels a wide berth. Low-power Super Wi-Fi signals (less than 40 milliwatts) face fewer restrictions. So while there are 48 channels potentially available for long-range Super Wi-Fi, zero or one channel will be available for long-range use in the places most Americans live. More info.