Those of you struggling to maintain a Wi-Fi connection from next door’s access point may be exclaiming a Victor Meldrew-style, “I don’t belieeeeve it!” at the news of a mighty new world record being set for an unamplified Wi-Fi link.
The new world record in the “unamplified” category was set last week by Team iFiber Redwire, with the Wi-Fi signal reaching an astonishing 125 miles, stretching from Las Vegas, Nevada, all the way to a spot adjacent to St. George, Utah.
The team of college students managed to crush the previous world record for the longest distance for an unamplified Wi-Fi link (55.1 miles @ 30mW) at the 3rd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest.
The shootout challenges teams to wirelessly connect two computers at extreme distances, with the winners’ collection of Z-Com 325hp+ PCMCIA cards, homemade antennas, 12 foot satellite dishes, home-welded support structures, scaffolds, ropes and computers earning them the prized record.
The team managed a full 11 Mbps data transfer rate over a distance of 125 miles, a new world record that may end up being recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.
There is now talk of attempts to smash the current Bluetooth record of 1.08 miles.
I think we may have to borrow one of their 12 foot satellite dishes because we can barely maintain our office connection through one set of walls…
Credit for first picture : thanks to wifi-shootout.com