Microsoft's Response to the Xbox360's Strange Wireless Signal

January 12th, 2008, 17:26 Posted By: wraggster

After 37 days, Microsoft issued 43-word statement on the report of a strange, strong radio apparently generated by its Xbox 360 game console, and noticed by Morrisville State College, Morrisville, N.Y.

The entire statement, averaging about one word per day, is: "Any number of scenarios could account for wireless LAN disruptions in a college dorm environment where several electronic devices operate in close proximity. Xbox 360 complies with all applicable FCC regulations and we have not received reports that would indicate such a problem."

The story described an anomalous signal discovered by the IT department at Morrisville State College, which has deployed a campus-wide 802.11n net based on equipment from Meru Networks. The IT staff were exploring the radio environment in one of the college dorms, using Cognio's RF analysis software. The software revealed a signal, in the 2.4-MHz band, that was quite strong and jumped around through many of the frequencies in that band.

The signal was created even when the Xbox was not actually turned on. Barber speculates that it might be the continuing attempt by the console to find and connect to Microsoft's companion wireless handheld gaming controller. When Barber shrouded the Xbox with a static discharge bag the signal dropped noticeably but was still present, according to the Cognio scan. When the Xbox was unplugged from the wall, the signal stopped.

Barber emphasized then that there was as yet no indication that the signal was actually interfering with the Morrisville WLAN access points or clients. But the IT staff discovered that in the presence of this strange signal, they had a problem getting their wireless Bluetooth headsets to associate with their Bluetooth-enabled cell phones. They had to actually touch the two devices together to set up that connection.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/200...ss-signal.html

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