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McCaw's Wireless ISP Begins Trial Run This Summer 112
prostoalex writes "Wireless legend and billionaire Craig McCaw is moving into broadband wireless business with his new company. ClearWire will launch the service this summer in Jacksonville, FL and St Cloud, MN. The offerings will include 512 kbps, 786 kbps and 1.5 Mbps plans. Pricing is not revealed yet, but Business Week cites industry insiders claiming it's going to be in $40-50 range. ClearWire will rely on WiMAX (802.16) technology."
Re:just curious... (Score:1)
Lag (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Lag (Score:2)
Here's the comments from the story they ran just a few days ago on clearwire.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/news,45033~mode
I keep hearing wifi is the savior for small communities, but it seems that it's as bad as dsl when it comes to distance from the "co". =(
Great way to meet wireless peers? (Score:5, Interesting)
If more than one person can access the transmitter, then those multiple clients could just as easily talk to each other, should they take the time to work out a private wireless network for everyone to work on.
If the company had a forum where users could post their area codes, it would be a great way to meet and then privately organise a self-contained network.
Re:Great way to meet wireless peers? (Score:4, Informative)
There is a mesh version in the standard, but it is incomplete and insecure.
Re:Great way to meet wireless peers? (Score:2)
I think his prices are awfully high for wireless. Sure he has the bandwidth, but his costs are too close to cable's cost for me.
Re:Great way to meet wireless peers? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Great way to meet wireless peers? (Score:2)
Sssh...
Let the big business setup wireless ISPs and encourage everyone to buy wireless network cards. When their business eventually folds, there will be a huge population of wireless-enabled computers, maybe even enough to bootstrap a mesh network...
Think, people :) (Score:4, Informative)
McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:3, Interesting)
Well if I didn't know better, I'd think that Mr. McCaw got his idea from a Robert X. Cringely [slashdot.org] column. Or maybe it's just Business Week's choice of calling it a disruptive technology.
Too bad he didn't get all the details right. As far as I can tell, it certainly would be disruptive to my wallet. At 40-50 dollars/month this is obviously not aimed at your average consumer. I do a lot of commuting by ferry and would love to be able to spend some of that time online, but I'm not about to double my monthly ISP expenses to do so.
So this appears to be aimed primarily at business users... but that makes me wonder why the choice of Jacksonville and St Cloud as test cities? Is there some high-tech corridors in these cities that I don't know about?
I'd love wireless access everywhere, but it seems like Cringely has the more feasible solution.
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:4, Insightful)
$60 in Chicago: comcast (Score:2)
WISPs or broadband over powerline at a key price could really shake up the industry.
Good Price (Score:1)
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:1)
You do not do a test where you'll be swamped by users in a hostile environment. 300/75bps speeds and dead spots like freckles on a read-head are not going to help.
there are MILLIONS.... (Score:1)
Yes, maybe inside broadband-rich urban mega cities it might not be cost competetive (if you refuse to factor in convenience
Re:there are MILLIONS.... (Score:1)
Cities have the opposite problem, in that the individual bandwidth on a shared carrier is horrible, and the environment is radio-hostile.
A semi-rural(hobby/weekend farm, dairy, et
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:2)
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:2)
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:1, Informative)
If I had to guess, i would say nearly 40% of the city is still without broadband of some kind. Not from lack of desire for it, but simply not available in your zip code. Nobody in Jacksonville will be doubling their ISP bills by paying $50/
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:2)
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:1)
I don't care where Mr. McCaw got his idea. With a mug like this [achievement.org] I'd let this pimp skillet disrupt whatever the hell he wants.
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:2)
I really don't think $50 is all that bad, cable internet near my area is $60, although that does include b
Re:McCaw reads Cringely? (Score:1)
My guess is that Jacksonville makes a good test site becase the city is so large (in terms of land area - population, not so much). So, it's an ideal test site for WiFi coverage. If I remember correctly, Sprint also used Jacksonville as a test site for their own long-range WiFi service not too long ago.
I live in Jacksonville. If any of you techies are willing to relocate to Florida, some of the biggest names in business have large campuses here - Merrill Lynch, Blue Cross, CSX, Bank of America, etc. Come o
This is FIXED wireless, not for use on the ferry. (Score:2)
I access the Internet using
Re:This is FIXED wireless, not for use on the ferr (Score:2)
Should be "If you RTFA," obviously.
Hmmm, Nice Article. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Hmmm, Nice Article. (Score:2)
NeoThermic
Re:Hmmm, Nice Article. (Score:3, Informative)
It's not better; it's different.
5 mile radius cells = metro area service = MAN = 802.16 = lower bps/unit_area
100m radius cells = local area service = LAN = 802.11 = higher bps/unit_area
Re:Hmmm, Nice Article. (Score:1)
Re:Hmmm, Nice Article. (Score:1)
Once again, leftist posts are modded down! (Score:1, Troll)
Municipal Wi-Fi network is the way to go.
Municipal Wi-Fi network is the way to go. (Score:0, Flamebait)
by zymano (581466) on Saturday June 05, @08:49PM (#9347513)
Not private companies that want to use OUR airwaves to GOUGE people that don't have a choice.
Have any of you ever wondered why the government has not been more active in fiber to the curb or support a public Wi-fi network? It's because the present pres
Thanks Cryofan. I agree :) (Score:1)
I think Slash needs to ban some people if they are totally offtopic and quit this karma/point system to posts.
It's against freedom. Nobody reads -1 threshold .
Re:Once again, leftist posts are modded down! (Score:2)
I have judged. The post is stupid. Stupid posts invite flames. Thus the post is flamebait.
Re:Munical Wi-Fi network is the way to go. (Score:1)
You must read slashdot way too much. Internet access does not win elections.
Here's the part that gets me modded down: You, zymano, are a genuine idiot. That's not an invitation to mod me down, just a prediction.
/political opinion
Re:Munical Wi-Fi network is the way to go. (Score:3, Insightful)
You make a good example of why irrational hatred makes one irrational. The President has nothing to do with municipal networks, municipalities do. So bitch to your municipalities instead. Duh!
You might have an argument if Bush had vetoed a TVA-style bill that would have provided such an initiative, but it didn't happen.
In other words, your kitten getting run over by a car isn't Bush's fault.
Re:Munical Wi-Fi network is the way to go. (Score:2)
Re:WiMax the next iridium? (Score:5, Informative)
802.16 is an effort to standardize an existing market in MMDS and LMDS systems. There are many manufacturers that have been making and selling this stuff for a long time. What is new is that there is a standardized MMDS/LMDS protocol coming out of the IEEE.
WiMax can serve eiher big carriers, small carriers or private users. The standard is flexible in this respect. It can work in licensed or unlicensed spectrum. It can be fixed or mobile. It can be point to point or point to multipoint.
This looks nothing in the slightest like Iridium.
3G for breakfast (Score:2)
Why work so hard at layer 2? (Score:3, Interesting)
kid in 32 Oak Road and kid in 35 Oak Road are going to tie up a lot more network resources sharing DivX movies than they would with a mesh-routed layer 3 network, 'cause in WiMax the IP stuff isn't getting routed until it hits the backhaul point.
WiMax
subscriber 1 --(802.16)--> cell site --(802.16)--> cell site --(DMR)--> POP (now do the routing) --(DMR)--> cell site --(802.16)--> cell site --(802.16)--> subscriber 2
WiFi Mesh
subscriber 1 --(802.11)--> subscriber 2
Granted this is the case on WiMax gear I've researched. I wish it'd die a quick, painless death, but I'm afraid it's going to be more like ATM - a great idea, but not worth the costs.
Re:Why work so hard at layer 2? (Score:4, Informative)
A) An ATM convergence sublayer
B) An IP Packet convergence sublayer
C) An 802.3 Packet convergence sublayer
D) An 802.1Q CS - Ignore, this one is braindead
So there is no compulsion to spit L2 user traffic out of the BS.
I have seen a variety of implementations, from the IP routing being right in the base station, next to the radio, through to L2 traffic being routed over a closed IP network back to an aggregation point elsewhere in the network and varieties that lay somewhere in between.
SS1 -- 802.16 BS -- SS2 is feasible and real.
There is nothing in 802.16 that demands you work hard at L2. Although some people clearly think there is a reason to try, hence 802.1AB provider bridging.
Re:Why work so hard at layer 2? (Score:2)
Tasty! If I were from Missouri, I'd have two words for you: "Show Me".
I certainly haven't seen/heard/read of this being done anywhere in the world. Would certainly like to.
overcoming the inertia would seem quite hard! (Score:2)
I dunno....how does that happen?
Re:Why work so hard at layer 2? (Score:2)
Mesh networking is great, but 802.11 is totally unsuited to mesh because it limits throughput to 1/7th of the link rate [mit.edu].
This is NOT WiMax (Score:5, Informative)
What McCaw is doing is using the equipment from NexNet (which he also purchased) to make everything work. NexNet builds MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution System) equipment. Transitioning that equipment to WiMax may not be too difficult, but, again, there is no WiMax equipment currently on the market in the U.S.
Re:This is NOT WiMax (Score:2)
Re:This is NOT WiMax (Score:2)
Re:This is NOT WiMax (Score:2)
NextNet
Re:This is NOT WiMax (Score:1)
Re:This is NOT WiMax (Score:2)
802.16 in play in Portland (Score:1)
Interesting Concept (Score:1)
Mobile-Fi vs. WiMax citywide POP's (Score:2, Informative)
The primary benefit of WiMax is in the architecture. It lends itself to be very flexible. The person who mentioned it as a replacement for LMDS/MMDS and other wireless technologie
Why shouldn't our government be building this ? (Score:2)
A public government funded WiFi network is better for the longterm. I compare it to highways. What if private enterprise built the highways ? We would getting billed ever month for 50 bucks with hidden charges and endless tollbooths.
We need more proactive presidents and congressman in these regards.
Kerry has said that it's governments responsibility to bring fiber to t
Re:Why shouldn't our government be building this ? (Score:1)
Of course we also have way higher tax rates than the US, but if you want the government to subsidize everything, they need to get the money from somewhere.
The people are the network (Score:1)
Re:Mobile-Fi vs. WiMax citywide POP's (Score:3, Informative)
In New Zealand.. (Score:2, Interesting)
It is in the $40-$50 USD range (About $70 NZ, $120 for 2mbit - Pretty good when you consider 256kbit ADSL costs you about $70 per month)
WIreless? (Score:1, Troll)
McCaw's WIreless ISP Begins Trial Run This Summer
Wireless Networking | Posted by timothy on Saturday June 05, @08:23PM
Ask Slashdot: Is Caps Lock Dead?
Hardware | Posted by timothy on Saturday June 05, @07:21PM
Caps lock is dead...no- wait, someone accidently left it stuck on when writing their headline! No, that was just the shift key, damn...
(If this makes no sense at all the editors have probably fixed the extra capital letter there)
(If this makes sense but I should have RFTA because it's actually call
One step at a time.,, (Score:1)
http://news.com.com/2100-7351-5144887.html ? tag=nl
I really don't think people understand the as yet unknown implications of a MAN wireless network you can connect to ANYTIME, ANYWHERE (in a given area). In addition to the technolgies P2P capabilties, I think we really have no idea how this technology will change things 10 years down the road. It's just like cellular phones, once the technolgy matures and is
Ever heard of rioplex? (Score:1)
Not really wireless (Score:3, Interesting)
So basically the receiver is stationary and tied to at least one wire - the power line. If you already have cable at home, there is little point to this service. If you don't, then of course it's cool. But it should be still called "reduced wiring" rather than wireless.
Now, give me a notebook card that can connect to this service anywhere in a metropolitan area, and we are talking about something really useful.
WiMAX's Killer App. (Score:2)
I live in St Cloud, MN (Score:1)
too expensive (Score:1)
Oh well, I'm sure someone will figure out how to provide really cheap broadband/wireless service sooner or later. Taking the monopolistic local copper providers out of the loop will certainly improve things. I'm guessing we will see "economy/low margin" wireless br
This is not new news. (Score:1)
go figure (Score:1)
If only it weren't another albatross (Score:2)
I don't think WiMAX will be much different. Much like BPL it is touted as the solution to providing wireless in rural areas. In each case the infrastructure required to implement a Base/Subscriber architecture using fixed inf
Way Ahead of Him.. (Score:2, Interesting)
These Guys [epiinternet.com] in East Palestine, Ohio (of all places) are way ahead of him. thier using Motorola Canopy gear as i recollect.
Since i'm in thier coverage area (as is my mother) i had them come and check us out. the results were pretty interesting. They installed something that looked like the reciever part of a Dish Network dish (that rounded-square thing on the front), which they then pointed line-of-sight at the tower.
This wasn't flawless as stuff in the way can easily block it; i imagine a house would t
Portland has both 802.16 and 802.11b WISPs, today (Score:1)
$40/mo for VOIP plus broadband? (Score:1)
"Service is to be offered at 512K bps, 786K bps or 1.5M bps, and will bundle local and long-distance VOIP service alongside broadband Internet data access."
$40/mo for VOIP plus broadband?
Sell your ILEC stock today!
Re:cheap broadband + P2P = The Neoliberalism Kille (Score:2)
Re: cheap broadband+P2P=The Neoliberalism Killer? (Score:2)