�Is WiMAX leaving 802.11a-b-g behind?
Intel has called 802.16 "the most important thing since the Internet itself" and to me a 30 mile coverage area spells doom for a-b-g. Anyone out there with the negatives on the�ledger for 802.16x which� won't be heard from the WiMAX industry group?�
think I've been loud enough about the fact that 802.16 in unlicensed spectrum being interference-limited (just like WiFi), and that these "outdoor/residential broadband" wireless networks, while highly desirable from certain segments, are entirely ill-considered and will ultimately fail.
.16 in licensed spectrum is doomed for different reasons, mostly having to do with interference again, but this time from CCI and ACI due to other (licensed) transmitters.
Intel has a brown thumb when it comes to RF. I've been known to quote: "INTC + RF = 0". Say this in-front of anyone who has seen Intel fail, repeatedly, at things RF and you'll get one of two reactions:
1) a knowing smile, typically from those who aren't employed by Intel.
2) resignation, (typically from those that are)
lately I get folks from Intel insisting that I'm wrong, but their argument (and the argument from the rest of the pro-WiMax crowd) is one centered on economics ("its cheaper with wireless" (*)) and completely discounts the physics of the situation, which run counter to the desires of the pro-WiMax crowd.
In the end, WiMax (in fact, any fixed wireless system) will succeed in limited deployments, but can't scale. This is straightforward to prove with mathematics. The only provable way to build a scalable wireless network (with any real capacity) is via mesh, but even here, those who dream of succeeding with mesh on top of 802.11 are doomed.
I (once again) point to Tim Shepard's MIT thesis. Its all in there, in solid mathematics. http://www.lcs.mit.edu/publications/pubs/pdf/MIT-LCS-TR-670.pdf
Jim
(*) the logical endpoint of the WiMax dream seems to be $10/mo wireless broadband to the home. ("We'll be rich!") I heard this kind of talk far too often during Vivato board meetings. Besides missing the point (that fixed wireless is far too fragile/unreliable to provision a service (You're damned by the first yahoo that brings up a continuous tx close to your "basestation"), this *dream* my be the root cause of Vivato's missteps at the hands of its founders. It wasn't supposed to be about "4 mile WiFi".
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