downcoverting 2.4Ghz

[Astral]

i have been readin on some theories to downconvert 2.4Ghz 802.11b. When i say downconvert i mean dropping it from say 2.4Ghz to Ham Bands in UHF/VHF. The reason for this is huge extended range as well as ability to pass through all kinds of objects. The only price is lower bandwidth. data rates drop quite a bit, but you can still muster up something nice. I have seen theories that even in 900Mhz or a little lower its still possible to achieve over 1mb a sec, which is plenty is most cases. Just wondering if this is actually a possibility or im a chasing something stupid. Thanks

[skroo]

i have been readin on some theories to downconvert 2.4Ghz 802.11b. When i say downconvert i mean dropping it from say 2.4Ghz to Ham Bands in UHF/VHF. The reason for this is huge extended range as well as ability to pass through all kinds of objects. The only price is lower bandwidth. data rates drop quite a bit, but you can still muster up something nice. I have seen theories that even in 900Mhz or a little lower its still possible to achieve over 1mb a sec, which is plenty is most cases. Just wondering if this is actually a possibility or im a chasing something stupid. Thanks

I don't think you're necessarily chasing up something stupid (and it would be kinda neat to see it be done), but I think you're looking at a number of practicalities that need to be overcome.

I'm going to assume that you intend to keep using DSSS in order to remain as faithful to the 802.11b spec as possible. Given some of the propagation and reflection characteristics of the lower bands (say, 220MHz and below), you'll probably want to restrict yourself to UHF - which pretty much means the 420-450, 902-928, and 1.3GHz ranges.

Given the amount of bandwidth you have to operate in in those ranges plus the amount of crowding already present there, it'd be tricky. One of the problems with doing radiodata is resiliency - you can transmit the signal, but how well it holds up between transceiver a and transceiver b is another matter.

Remember also that 802.11b was intended to be interfered with - since it was never meant for life-or-death applications, it doesn't matter if it gets stepped on by microwave ovens, cordless phones, restaurant seating pagers, etc. As a result, it's not terribly resilient (though it does work well enough for its own purposes).

Also remember that you'll need to find a DSSS transceiver capable of data for working the band you intend to use, and those aren't cheap. Further, SS operation may be prohibited in certain bands - the FCC is taking the approach of, 'you've got the ISM bands for experimenting in, so stay off the (primarily) phone bands'.

So, in short - doable? Yes. Easily? Probably not.