fibre - based net service is great ( ask any jealous New Yorker not eligible for FiOS ) but laying fiber cable costs tens of G of dollar per nautical mile . Infrastructure projects to bring it to every house in a give surface area so expensive , even Googlecan’t fundament the measure . So AT&T decide to use stuff most places had already to piggyback a wi - fi sign .
Project AirGig ask install charge card routers on the tops of extant utility poles and letting gigabit internet follow the way of life of the office lines over to the next router , and the next , and the next . The little routers would presumptively be a portion cheaper and require less zoning headaches than labour up holes to position fresh transmission line . In theory , it ’s a cheap and clever answer to the expensive trouble of well wifi coverage — but right now it ’s still equal parts marketing hype and test copy of construct .
“ We ’re experimenting with multiple way to send a modulated radio set sign around or near medium - emf force lines , ” the AT&T press releaseexplains , suggest they ’re far from figuring out how to implement these devices for practical use .
Project AirGig is still in the former stages of testing , and field trials are n’t slated to begin until 2017 . Gigabit wi - fi seems to be the path declamatory - scale internet initiatives have been conk for a while , withStarryandLinkNYCbeing two of the major examples . The Vergepoints outthough that lack of redundancy and potential for interruption from inclement conditions could potentially kneecap the project . We ’re honestly more worried about people go up the public-service corporation poles to steal a free router .
[ AT&TviaThe Verge ]
AT&THi - FiWifi
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