Post #576361
2026-02-28 10:15 UTC
Replies (5)
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@vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 2026-02-28 11:34
There is a technology called BLE, which together with mesh networking and synchronization of messages instead of routing them can give you connectivity in the middle of big events, without too much signal noise. Of course other than Briar and that Bitchat thing I don’t know what to use in such situations.
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@Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-02-28 15:19
> it's because every device connected to a cell halves the bandwidth available to each device, and after something like 30-40 devices the cell is full. I don't know where you're getting this from. There not how cells have worked since at least 3g, sort of sounds like how consumer grade WiFi hardware operates. Towers are designed with sectors that are directional and each can support thousands of devices but those can't handle 10k people at a stadium. If you had bothered to read the article youd have read they are talking about how stadiums are now using distributed antenna systems (DAS), which is basically hundreds of antennas spread over the venue and fed directly into fiber. Each one is designed to handle a small section. The carriers do need to hook into the endpoint here so this isn't something that can be setup on a whim. I don't see it mentioned but there are also mobile units, cellular on wheels (COWS) are common one and they really easy to spot if know to look for them. Basically a cell tower on trailer that can use microwave for the back haul for when on site fiber isn't available. If you end up at a venue and can't get service it's because the venue is too cheap to use any of these existing options. They could also be using some outdated antennas, LTE can't handle as many connections as the new 5G stuff.
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@unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-02-28 14:01
Its more like a few thousand devices, not 30-40 but ye.
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@GamingChairModel@lemmy.world 2026-02-28 15:01
Yup. LTE can support something like 300-400 connections per band and there are 16 primary bands licensed in the US. 5G and mm wave open things up some more, including beam forming techniques that may allow an antenna array to communicate with two devices on the same frequency at the same time. But at the same time, each carrier only gets some of those bands, and they want to separate bands by physical space so that neighboring cells are using different bands, and in 3 dimensional space there can be a lot of neighbors. And 300 passive connections simply keeping the connection alive are different from 300 active users trying to actively transmit and receive significant data. Plus real world interference will always make devices come up short from the theoretical max performance. Temporary/mobile towers go a long way, though, for temporary surges in demand, like sporting events. Things have gotten a lot better on game days in certain places (especially small college towns whose populations basically double on game day, with everyone jammed into a single stadium for about 4 hours).
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@Ulrich@feddit.org 2026-02-28 12:05
This is the only time 5G is useful