802.16 WiMax Wireless Broadband on the Horizon 169
"The IEEE 802.16e spec, which will support mobile applications, is expected to be complete by early 2005. Nextel, Sprint and BellSouth are all interested in the technology to deploy services like streaming video and TV, wireless phones, and high-speed Internet service in unserved, low-density areas near high-density ones. Mobile operators in developing countries like Brazil's NEOTEC group have already successfully tested an 802.16 wireless broadband deployment. Intel communications group executive VP and GM, Sean Maloney, is banking on it. From the article: 'We believe that WiMax can happen, and be widely deployed, and be a big deal in the next three years the same way Wi-Fi has been a big deal the last two years.' Mirrors at Network World Fusion, Techworld and PCWorld. What happens when techies start to build their own 802.16x WiMax VoIP systems?"
This is promising. (Score:2, Interesting)
50 kilometers ? Power consumption ? (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder if it becomes actually viable ... The power consumption might reduce the actual advantages for a laptop/mobile system ?. The battery is thing still dragging mobile computing , it's still 1970's space-age technology. But maybe methanol fuel cells will come up by 2005 end ?
[http://wiki.dotgnu.org/DotGNUPeople/gopz]
Where will they find the Frequency (Score:5, Interesting)
MaBell Will Stop This (Score:5, Interesting)
Too many people have way too much to loose if this becomes the standard like 802.11 has. In any urban or suburban areas, image how many Wifi hotspots there are within 50km... or even 25km.
Cell providers and ISP's are going to fight this every step of the way because of the competition this could pose... with the right hardware. How long before we see 802.14 VoIP handsets sold on thinkgeek?
How fast is it? (Score:2, Interesting)
All I see anywhere is 'hundreds of megabits per second' but i haven't seen any actual numbers... anyone know?
Great potential for developing countries (Score:4, Interesting)
We did a project once in Nigeria that depended on semi-reliable Internet connections across the country. The only option for our client was to install VSAT stations, at a cost of $50,000 each not counting operating costs.
With 50km point-to-point range it becomes very possible for operators to build a national IP network with local distribution via WiFi or cable.
This could do for Internet what the GSM has done for telephony in large parts of Africa (i.e. brought modern communications to millions of people who have never been able to get it before).
Re:This is promising. (Score:1, Interesting)
Mod parent down, it's utterly wrong and it's clear the poster has no idea what he's talking about.
WiMax in wide range of bands (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder what this will do for adoption because the volume on the RF components will be fragmented across multiple bands. I also wonder if people will create WiMax variants that interfere with WiFi by operating in the same frequency space.
Re:Great potential for developing countries (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes there is. The fibre-optic cable is great for the internet backbone, but you don't have fibre to every house in the suburbs and rural areas. This wireless tech would be truly excellent here!
With 50km point-to-point range it becomes very possible for operators to build a national IP network with local distribution via WiFi or cable.
Not really. While you could build a wireless backbone using this technology, the bandwidth would suck. And using this tech for the backbone and using cable for local distribution would be insane. This new tech is great for the last mile distribution of internet access. The backbone is better built by using fiber.
Re:Just boost wifi power to, oh say, 800-1400 watt (Score:1, Interesting)
During WWII, radar techs in Britain would frequently step outside in front of their radars to take the chill off the foggy, rainy british weather.
Oddly enough, many are today suffering from a form of blindness much akin to hard-boiling an egg. The proteins change from clear to white... (similar to cataracts, except the whole viscous substance in the eye) Also, cataracts too is much more common.
Strange coincidence, that.
NYC: you tawkin' ta ME? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Great potential for developing countries (Score:3, Interesting)
Microwave links are used, yes, but mainly as we might use leased lines - expensive point-to-point links between two business locations, between an ISP and a company, that kind of thing.
Microwave links do not work when it rains, however. This means they are out of action (in Nigeria's south) for a day or more per week during the rainy season. As you go north this is less of a problem. In countries like Congo it rains even more and the air is so humid microwave links are a problem.
Good communications are always a boost for a country - look at GSM networks, which in some places have multiplied people's standards of living by a factor of five or more simply because they can work around the sheer awfulness of the roads and communications infrastructure and start to do business efficiently.
Of course Africa needs better communications. The challenges are not trivial, however, nor the same as we know in the US and Europe.
Re:NYC: you tawkin' ta ME? (Score:3, Interesting)