From: Niall O Broin (niall at domain linux.ie)
Date: Thu 23 Aug 2001 - 12:00:22 IST
On Thu, Aug 23, 2001 at 12:11:08AM +0100, Conor Daly wrote:
> > equipment but with high gain directional aerials you can get huge
> > improvements in range.
>
> So, if I stick a directional antenna up on Howth Summit pointing at
> Rathfarnam, I'll be away in a hack?
That's the kind of distance Cringely is covering AFAIR.
> > This is where it gets interesting, of course. Has anyone considered the
> > legal/regulatory aspects of this ? Rest assured, big brother isn't watching
> > (at least not through my eyes) but he might be :-)
>
> I presume that could be dealt with by incorporating as a Co-operative
> Society, hiring a leased line for the society's network and who cares what
> your network layout is? We have offices 20-30 km apart sharing a single
> internet connection. If the cards themselves are licensed as radio
> devices, all should be cool.
No, I was thinking about the RF regulatory situation. Even if the cards are
licensed here, modifying them in the way required for greater range may not
be allowed. You may not consider attaching another antenna to the card to be
a modification, but your opinion doesn't carry much regulatory weight. In
the states, modifying a regulated RF device in this way is allowed as long
as you don't increase the power output, sell the modified device, or make
more than 5 such modified devices (again, this comes from Cringely's
articles). What the situation is here, I don't know.
Niall
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