http://www.wifi-shootout.com "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.htm l). However, in a follow-up story published by Computerworld (http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,76118,00.htm l) ,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." Contest Results --------------------------------- Prize: Most Innovative Design Team: Turbo Crew Certified Distance: 0.82 Miles Base Camp Coordinates: 36.66163 degrees North 114.92480 degrees West Roving Team Coordinates: 36.67342 degrees North 114.92450 degrees West --------------------------------- Prize: Commercial Team: Range Box Certified Distance: 14.0 Miles Base Camp Coordinates: 36.66126 degrees North 114.92714 degrees West Roving Team Coordinates: 36.86280 degrees North 114.95766 degrees West --------------------------------- Prize: Homebrew Amplified Team: P.A.D. Certified Distance: 55.1 Miles Base Camp Coordinates: 36.66178 degrees North 114.92490 degrees West Roving Team Coordinates: 37.45185 degrees North 115.07614 degrees West --------------------------------- Prize: Homebrew Team: P.A.D. Certified Distance: 55.1 Miles Base Camp Coordinates: 36.66178 degrees North 114.92490 degrees West Roving Team Coordinates: 37.45185 degrees North 115.07614 degrees West --------------------------------- Prize: Greatest Overall Distance Team: P.A.D. Certified Distance: 55.1 Miles Base Camp Coordinates: 36.66178 degrees North 114.92490 degrees West Roving Team Coordinates: 37.45185 degrees North 115.07614 degrees West --------------------------------- ---------------------------- Frank Keeney Wireless Antennas, Cables and Equipment: http://www.wlanparts.com
