Practical Technology

for practical people.

WiMax finally gets real

May 7th, 2008 · No Comments

I am, shall we say, more than a little cynical, even by my standards, when it comes to wireless networking. For example, I really, really have doubts about the wisdom of moving up to 802.11n. That said, I think the monster Mobile WiMax deal, which was announced today, may actually go places.

Why? Well Mobile WiMax (worldwide interoperability for microwave access), aka IEEE standard 802.16e, is a real standard-unlike the never quite approved 802.11n-and the WiMax Forum actually tests and certifies equipment for interoperability.

In other words, if you buy a WiMax device from any vendor say a laptop with the next generation of Intel’s Wi-Fi chips, the Montevina/Centrino 2, which will start shipping in June, it will work with any WiMax ground-station. In other words, you won’t have to sweat matching vendors for your WiMax connectivity to work.

More >

Tags: Mobile · Network · Standards · TCP/IP · Wi-Fi

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.