DoD and Wi-Fi Companies Reach Pact

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/2100-1033-982962.html' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/2100-1033-982962.html</a><br /><br /></div>I reported on the conflict between the Department of Defense and 5GHz Wi-Fi technologies <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5955">about a month ago</a>, and happily, it seems they've reached a pact.<br /><br />"Tech companies and the Department of Defense have reached a compromise on the future of wireless networking, addressing military concerns about radar interference.<br /><br />The two sides said Friday that they had reached a resolution that establishes a new radio frequency threshold for products using unlicensed radio spectrum--primarily Wi-Fi products. Wi-Fi is a technology that lets devices located within a 300-foot radius communicate with one another wirelessly."

[wrightca]

This may have seemed a pretty stupid argument to most, but there are plenty of times where commercial RF signals have interefered with military operations. These resonate in the mind of the military when things like this come up. Congress has also been trimming our spectrum allocations down little by little over the years. Some of the "trimmings" have cost us (the US taxpayer) a considerable amount of money, because congress forgot to ask the military what we were using them for. They just happened to be very important and very costly to change to another frequency.
So, where it seems on the surface 5GHz WiFi has no affect on the military, there are checks and tests and investigations to be done before we can be sure.