WiFi Standards and Etiquette
Glenn Fleishman offers wise words on the potential balkanization of WiFi standards. He doesn’t mention the elephant in the closet: Microsoft. It’s leading the charge for « etiquettes » on unlicensed wireless services in the 5 GHz band (and possibly elsewhere). Microsoft hasn’t provided specifics, and appears to be still working it the details itself. But the notion is that there needs to be something that plays the role of TCP to 802.11a/b/g’s IP. It’s not yet clear whether Microsoft’s involvement is a Very Good Thing or a Very Bad Thing. I don’t think it’s an evil company. I believe the people I’ve talked with really want to do the right thing to foster growth of unlicensed wireless. Still, there are significant dangers in the path Microsoft is going down. The WiFi community needs to engage these issues.

[Werblog]