Citywide Networking With Bluetooth? 11
An Anonymous Coward asks: "WaveLan and other cards promise wireless Internet, but can be quite costly in lower-income areas. I know that Bluetooth [?] technology is supposed to be used in close proximity to each other, but can it (in large numbers) be used to hook up a congested city? Although Bluetooth is only supposed to work within a few meters of other Bluetooth devices, I have read that by upping the power, the range can be increased to 100 meters. Instead of using relatively expensive wireless LAN cards, Bluetooth is supposed to cost just a few bucks (may be a few tens of bucks with higher power?). What if a highly congested city were to mount these Bluetooth devices on rooftops to create a mesh of Bluetooth receivers and transmitters? At a few optimum locations, connections to the local back-bone could, essentially wire a whole city. These devices wouldn't have to be in direct line of site, since a chain of Bluetooth devices would eventually get to the back bone. I understand that it may be slow and there may be lag, but it is better than no Internet at all. It will also be very cheap, since marginal cost of getting Internet service in this scenario would be extremely low. I need some technical feedback here. Is it possible? What possible problems exit and can they be solved?"
