Ouch Frank - you got me.... got me to respond to your post, that is...
Dan Sherman is probably only one of the millions (or is it only thousands?) of people who has fallen for the WiMax hype - hook, line, and sinker. We all fall for hype sometime so he's only human in letting his hopes, dreams, and expectations prevail over reality but a little reality is in order here:
WiMax, IMHO, is currently 80% hype and 20% reality.
The reality:
1. WHAT IS IT? - WiMax (802.16) is an abbreviation for a set of over-the-air protocols. These protocols will be used on different frequency bands.
2. HOW FAR WILL IT GO? - Distances depend on frequency, terrain, obstructions, interference levels, and acceptable bit-error rate.
3. WILL IT GO 30 MILES? - In a point-to-point scenario at 5 GHz with a line-of-sight (LOS) path (for example, between mountain tops) - YES. In a point-to-multipoint scenario at 5 GHz without a LOS path - NO.
4. HOW FAR WILL IT GO? - In a typical 5 GHz NLOS point-to-multipoint scenario (the kind that most of us would be facing) the range is likely to be 1 to 2 miles if the obstructions are reasonably few (for example, a few trees or a building of two in the way). If obstructions are more dense (or if the outdoor antennas are too low) then the range will be shorter.
5. HOW FAR WILL IT GO ON OTHER FREQUENCIES? - The lower the frequency, the farther the distance it will go and the less it will be attenuated by obstructions. The higher the frequency, the shorter the distance it will go without needing to be repeated or mesh-network enabled. For the record, repeating IS addressed in the WiMax standards.
6. WILL IT USE LICENSED OR UNLICENSED FREQUENCIES? - Both. WiMax is just a set of protocols. One or more WiMax protocols may be used on licensed of license-free frequencies between 2 GHz and 66 GHz.
7. CAN WAL-MART DOMINATE THE WISP MARKET BY PUTTING A BASE STATION ON EVERY STORE? - Extremely unlikely although it would be fun to see them try it. Unless every store is on top of a mountain overlooking the customer base/service area (below the mountain) then the frequency, terrain, obstructions, interference levels, and acceptable bit-error rate variable (mentioned above) are going to restrict the coverage to a relatively short one or two-mile distance.
I hope this bring a little perspective to the claims made by Wi-Max vendors, "marketing pros", and public relations "experts".
jack
fkeeney wrote:
http://www.dansherman.com/2004/06/walmart-communications-look-into.html
" Imagine this scenario... Walmart adds capacity to their already notorious bandwidth coming into their stores (that they use for their data links) and sets up Wi-Max points of presence at each of their stores. Because they would be buying all this bandwidth in bulk (every Walmart in America) they could get the best bandwidth price than anyone else in the US and then hook people up via Wi-Max to these point's of presence."
http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100964
http://blogger.iftf.org/Future/000484.html
----------------------------------------------------
Frank Keeney http://www.wlanparts.com
-- Jack Unger - President, Ask-Wi.Com, Inc. Serving the License-Free Wireless Industry Since 1993 Author of the WISP Handbook - "Deploying License-Free Wireless WANs" True Vendor-Neutral WISP Consulting-Training-Troubleshooting http://www.ask-wi.com Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (818) 227-4220
