John E. Coleman (ARS WA5BXO) wrote:
What I don't quite understand, is why it is easier or cheaper to do
broadband over power lines than over phone lines. Phone lines are already
balanced lines with a tighter EM field. Why wouldn't that be better?
John, WA5BXO
Because not everyone these days has a home phone. Cell phones are the
'in' thing. That, plus people like Vonage, Time-Warner and other VoIP
folks who are selling their digital phone service to those who have
high-speed internet, means you don't have to have a phone at home,
anymore. Long distance charges are basically a thing of the past
nowadays, with the advent of cell phones, and digital VoIP stuff.. the
internet.
I've thought about that - install it on a laptop, get a cellular modem
for said laptop and when you're down for the day, if you're traveling,
you can sit down, crank up your laptop and your webcam and have a live
video conference with the spouse-mate, or whomever.
EVERYONE however, still relies on electricity in their homes, so that's
why the big push is on to get everyone (as much as possible) on
high-speed internet.
I think that it should be noted that sending voice over RF started (of
course) with that group of Amatuers back in the days of Edison, Feseden,
Watts, Tesla and others. After the video thing started, Hams started
trying to figure a way to do it over radio. Now, thanks to the
groundwork laid out by Hams, most "Instant Message" chat programs
available (MSN, Yahoo!, ICQ, AIM, are the top four popular) allow you
Voice and Video, at the same time.
The technology is here - it's just trying to be implented across the
nation without regard to the rest of the spectrum.
I personally don't see why the Satellites don't carry the broad-band
signals, since they've got cameras that can see pretty much in your
house, from 22,500 miles in the air. It wouldn't be anything to
'piggy-back' the digital broad-band signal to whoever has a recieving
device, anywhere on the planet.
There's no need for money to be involved in Internet access, anymore.
It can be done over the air, just like radio... it just needs to get a
bit higher in frequency.
Keep it up in the 5.4 to 9.5GHz range - that way there's plenty of
bandwidth for spread-spectrum stuff, and there's no threat to HF
communication.
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73 = Best Regards,
-Geoff/W5OMR
