Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!unsvax!jimi!tahoe!apple!well!nagle
From: nagle@well.sf.ca.us (John Nagle)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Laser Link betw two buildings 500 m apart possible??
Message-ID: <21350@well.sf.ca.us>
Date: 25 Oct 90 04:08:52 GMT
References: <HUOPIO.90Oct22195507@kannel.lut.fi>
Distribution: sci
Lines: 15

huopio@lut.fi (Kauto Huopio OH5LFM) writes:

>Is is possible to build a laser link, between 2 buildings, say 500
>meters apart and have 1 Mbit/s RELIABLE bandwidth in any weather
>conditions?

     Not in a place where it snows hard.  It was first tried in
Cleveland in 1968.  You can punch through rain, but snow is nearly
opaque.

     Even millimeter microwave won't work reliably through snow.
The wavelength has to be considerably bigger than snowflakes
to diffract around them.  

					John Nagle