MIT Researchers Radically Boost Wi-Fi With Smart Routers That Talk To Each Other

Tech lets wireless access points cancel out interference, providing a speed boost for crowded venues. It might help cellphone towers, too.

Tech lets wireless access points cancel out interference, providing a speed boost for crowded venues. It might help cellphone towers, too.

Look at the night sky on a camping trip and the stars are everywhere. Look from a city full of lights and you barely see any. The disappointment is similar when you go from a Wi-Fi network in isolation to one crowded with dozens, maybe hundreds, of other users. The problem, in both cases, is interference: signals crashing into each other. Adding more Wi-Fi access points, or APs, to extend the coverage area can cause more collisions, since they are all fighting over the same limited spectrum.

Read Full Story