It seems that this thread has gone a bit off-subject, so I stopped about half way through to put in my 2 cents about the actual question:

Have you experimented with using a WRT54G router from Linksys? The unique characteristic of this router is it's ability flash out the firmware into basically whatever you want. You can, with this router, log into it's OS (which is a Linux-based system from what I understand.) From there, any 802.11 need you may have is quite possible.

With a little technical know-how, you could easily set up a power supply of either a rechargable battery supply or, possibly, an in-card power system.

I don't understand why you feel that abandoning 802.11 is needed when you can work around it's trivial flaws so easily.

Anyways, I hope this helps a bit. And, guys, can't we all just get along?