John W. Cox
senior editor
Network World

This second article simply reports what can fairly be described as Microsoft's "non-responsive" answer to our query over a month ago.

Neither this story nor the original "blames" the Xbox or Microsoft for anything. It seems that the Xbox is producing what is (at least in most Wi-Fi nets today) a strange signal that possibly interfering with nearby Bluetooth wireless connections, and possibly (in some cases) could affect the Wi-Fi infrastructure or client connections.

As both stories explicitly declared, there is currently no Wi-Fi interference. Yet.

My request to Microsoft was to intended to share with them what (to me) was an interesting case, and ask for help in exploring some of the technical issues that the college IT department might consider in assessing this signal. Microsoft obviously decided not to do so.

The college's wireless LAN is different in key respects from a typical corporate WLAN. The deployment of the 11n gear DOES come before final ratification of the IEEE standard. But the equipment coming to market is being certified interoperable by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

At Morrisville State, it seems to be the case that it's not the infrastructure (the Meru 11n access points) that is the source of, or affecting, this signal. It's a type of wireless client device over which the college has little control. I'm not sure any institutions have taken the step of banning wireless gaming controllers on campus.

The story is of interest, in my opinion, because it illustrates an increasing crowded, increasingly diverse client radio environment, where enterprise control over those clients may be limited or non-existent. That's a very different network than the traditional wired desktops used only by employees.