"Mushroom Networks, which was started at the University of California, San Diego, and WiBoost Inc., based in Seattle, have built prototypes of simple wireless systems that make it possible for groups of neighbors to share their D.S.L. or cable Internet connections. Both companies said that sharing high-speed lines might enable users in small neighborhood clusters to download files and Web pages up to 10 times faster," reports The New York Times.
The two firms are exploiting the fact that most computer networks are used in an irregular or "bursty" fashion. Even though large numbers of users download e-mail, Web pages or music and video files, most of the time the networks sit idle, waiting for a computer user to strike a key or issue a command.
"Our studies show that, averaged across all users, the utilization is less than 1% of the total capacity," said James Baker, president of WiBoost.
