High-speed multimedia radio

HSMM can support most of the traffic that the Internet currently does, including video chat, voice, instant messaging, email, the Web (HTTP), file transfer (FTP), and forums.

HSMM can even be connected to the Internet and used for web surfing, although because of the FCC regulations on permitted content, this is done only when directly used for ham radio activities (under Part 97).

Using high gain directional antennas and amplifiers, reliable long-distance wireless links over many miles are possible and only limited by propagation and the radio horizon.

HSMM networks most-often use professional hardware with narrower channel bandwidths such as 5 or 10 MHz to help increase range.

For long-range links extending outside of metropolitan areas 802.11b DSSS modulations or 802.11ah (900 MHz) equipment can be used, further increasing range at the cost of speed.

It is also possible to use a DDNS "push" request to automatically send an amateur call sign in plain text (ASCII) every 10 minutes.

This method is supported by all modern operating systems including but not limited to Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, and Linux.

This makes it very difficult to keep unauthorized users from accessing HSMM networks, although casual eavesdroppers can effectively be deterred.

MAC address filtering and WEP are all hackable by using freely available software from the Internet, making them the less secure options.

In the past it used to be easy to use modified consumer grade hardware to operate 802.11 on channels that are outside of the normal FCC allocated frequencies for unlicensed users but still inside an amateur radio band.

Transverters as well as using older 802.11 hardware such as the original NRC WaveLan or FHSS modems made by Aerocomm and FreeWave make it possible to operate on this band.

The Rocket M3, M365 and M365 GPS are in a rugged case using a hi-power, very linear 2x2 MIMO radio with 2x RP-SMA (Waterproof) connectors.

These devices use N mode Atheros chipsets along with Ubiquiti's airMax TDMA protocol to overcome the hidden node problem which is commonly an issue when using ptmp wireless outdoors.

The 3.5 GHz band is currently used for DoD or Navy (shipborne and ground-based) radar operations and covers 60 percent of the U.S. population.

Modifying consumer hardware to operate on these expanded channels often involves installing after-market firmware and/or changing the "country code" setting of the wireless card.

When buying professional grade hardware, many companies will authorize the use of these expanded frequencies for a small additional fee.