A team of scientists at MIT say they have developed a new wireless technology called MegaMIMO 2.0 that would triple speeds and almost double the range of the Wi-Fi signal. They also say it is not far away from being available to consumers.
Spectrum crunch is a huge problem for network operators, caused by a growing number of smartphones, laptops and other internet-enabled devices combined with a limited amount of space on the networks they're connected to.
Multiple-input-multiple-output technology, or MIMO, helps networked devices perform better by combining multiple transmitters and receivers that work simultaneously, allowing then to send and receive more than one data signal at the same time. MIT's MegaMIMO 2.0 works by allowing several routers to work in harmony, transmitting data over the same piece of spectrum.
The work done shows real promise, especially for congested areas, where speeds slow down because of limited bandwidth space.
MIT claimed that during tests, MegaMIMO 2.0 was able to increase data transfer speed of four laptops connected to the same Wi-Fi network by 330 percent. Paper co-author Rahul said the technology could also be applied to mobile phone networks to solve similar congestion issues.
When reached for comment, Comcast put everybody on hold and let them listen to old canned electronic pop muzak.