[CUWiN] New World's Record Set At Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- August 3, 2004

New World's Record Set At Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Amateur engineering took a new turn on July 31, 2004, in the Nevada
desert, as three teenage ham radio operators from Ohio took top honors
in the 2nd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest.  Held in conjunction
with the annual Defcon convention, the contest seeks to discover who can
achieve the greatest connected wireless network distance between two
computers using the 802.11b Wireless Fidelity (Wifi) protocol.

Using two consumer-grade 32-milliwatt Orinoco Gold USB Wifi adapters
mounted on the feed points of two surplus 9-1/2 foot satellite dishes,
the team known as P.A.D. achieved a verified connect distance of 55.1
miles (88.67 kilometers), without the use of external amplification.

This surpasses previous records set in the unamplified class, including
those of Canarias Wireless of Spain (70.5 kilometers) and Seattle
Wireless (61.1 kilometers).

After reading a story at http://classes.weber.edu/wireless/, it was
thought that team P.A.D. had not beaten the record set by students from
Utah's Weber State University, who achieved a wifi connection of 82
miles on December 6, 2003.  However, after scrutinizing the university
team's equipment list
(http://classes.weber.edu/wireless/Project%20Information.htm), it was
discovered that the Weber State team had indeed used two external 1.5
watt bi-directional amplifiers.

Similar concerns arose after reading a rather confusing story about the
72-mile wifi shot achieved by the HPWREN facility
(http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,75830,00.html).
However, in a follow-up story published by Computerworld
(http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,76118,00.html),
the use of external power amplifiers was once again revealed.

All other wifi records exceeding 55.1 miles have involved the use of
external power amplifiers.

Further information about the Defcon Wifi Shootout contest may be found at
http://www.wifi-shootout.com.

OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST

http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/LongShots
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/4045
http://www.defcon.org
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64440,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

Released by the Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest Staff.


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