Extricom showed a technology that it claims can triple bandwidth on a wireless network. Actually, the technology doesn’t do anything to bandwidth but it does allow a single wireless channel to be spread across multiple, overlapping wireless coverage ageas. That’s particularly interesting in an 802.11g environment, where only three channels are available.

Extricom says its technology can virtually eliminate roaming and signal strength problems. Now that many people and organizations are trying to cram video and VOIP over their wireless networks that never anticipated those applications, this could be an appealing way to squeeze a little more life out of equipment.

The technology basically transfers responsibility for channel management from the access points to the switch. The switch “knows” where all the access points are and can adjust channel allocation to minimize RF interference.

This reminds me of all the software that came out in the pre-Windows days to break the 640K barrier. This industry devotes enormous brainpower to fixing problems that shouldn’t exist in the first place. Eventually, technology advances usually render these workarounds irrelevant.