Looking for some other options for Wi-Fi?
Looking for some other options for Wi-Fi?
I was checking Intel's announcement about the Rivet Network 14 hours ago, right when it launched on retail media. Is this a coincidence? Or is Intel monitoring me?
Speculative Estimate shows 400M in value with premiums reaching 500M.
This clearly shows monopolistic practices. When a firm buys out all competitors and there are no alternatives, it’s strong evidence of monopoly control. The US Federal Trade Commission seems ineffective in this situation.
It seems they focused mainly on large-scale transactions worth billions and tens of billions. Smaller deals didn’t interest them much. Their satisfaction varied—some deals pleased them, others didn’t. They were happy with T-Mobile and Sprint, delighted about Disney Fox, and pleased that Qualcomm wasn’t acquired. Broadcom felt a bit underwhelming. Under the current leadership, it’s easy to overspend.
US competition authorities seem largely ineffective. I strongly oppose the mergers and acquisitions you referenced. These firms maintain their dominance by acquiring promising startups or new businesses. Once in power, they exploit their status through questionable tactics. For instance, Qualcomm receives a cut of sales from every smartphone equipped with a Snapdragon processor. This is in addition to the chip’s own price. Since Qualcomm owns all relevant patents in mobile CPUs and antennas, they pressure manufacturers to pay royalties on a broad patent pool—patents they may never actually utilize. T-Mobile’s plans cost more than Sprint’s, yet Sprint provides a wider selection of options. Their so-called 5G justification is misleading. The real outcome in the US could be an oligopoly among ATT, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Higher phone bills are likely, and the bigger these corporations become, the worse things get.
This perspective is a bit one-sided. I’d rather see a more hopeful outlook. Just avoid getting too excited about the mergers. Back then Dell said they’d buy VMware, EMC was actually involved—I thought maybe it wouldn’t fully succeed. It wasn’t a total failure, but efficiency didn’t really improve much. The integration wasn’t smooth either. I believe Nvidia will acquire VMware from EMC directly or through another route. Sprint’s performance was inconsistent outside major cities, leaving a lot of frustration. Still, there are issues with monopolies, like alcohol distributors in Canada and Quebec syrup—experiences that stuck with me while living in Vancouver and Seattle.
Maybe, but purchasing them from OEM outside Intel's direct channels keeps the cost low. Also, my Ryzen laptop came with Intel WiFi.
Do you have any reference or source? I was checking Rysen and they still use Intel cards, which is why I’m curious if there are other options. Even though they’re top quality, they’re definitely excellent alternatives.