Mobile Broadband
- WiMAX is a broadband wireless technology that enables broadband wireless networks that can support fixed, portable and mobile users and maintain high-speed connectivity wherever they go. More importantly, they promise to be lower in cost and higher in capacity than ever before.
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- Wimax
- WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a
telecommunications technology aimed at providing
wireless data over long
distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile
cellular type access. It is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, which is also
called WirelessMAN. WiMAX allows a user, for example, to browse the Internet
on a laptop computer without physically connecting the laptop to a wall
jack. The name WiMAX was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in
June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the standard. The
forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery
of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL."
- The terms "fixed WiMAX", "mobile WiMAX", "802.16d" and "802.16e" are
frequently used incorrectly. Correct definitions are:
802.16d
Strictly speaking, 802.16d has never existed as a standard. The
standard is correctly called 802.16-2004. However, since this standard is
frequently called 802.16d, that usage also takes place in this article to
assist readability.
802.16e
Just as 802.16d has never existed, a standard called 802.16e hasn't
either. It's an amendment to 802.16-2004, so is not a standard in its own
right. It's properly referred to as 802.16e-2005.
Fixed WiMAX
This is a phrase frequently used to refer to systems built using
802.16-2004 ('802.16d') as the air interface technology.
Mobile WiMAX
A phrase frequently used to refer to systems built using
802.16e-2005 as the air interface technology. "Mobile WiMAX" implementations
are therefore frequently used to deliver pure fixed services.
Uses
The bandwidth and reach of WiMAX make it suitable for the following
potential applications:
Connecting Wi-Fi hotspots with each other and to other parts of the
Internet.
Providing a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for last mile (last km)
broadband access.
Providing high-speed data and telecommunications services.
Providing a diverse source of Internet connectivity as part of a business
continuity plan. That is, if a business has a fixed and a wireless Internet
connection, especially from unrelated providers, they are unlikely to be
affected by the same service outage.
Providing nomadic connectivity.
