What is the Current Status of WiMAX? 239
PalletBoy asks: "I live in BFE (read 'remote') Pennsylvania where BroadBand is not available in any form save satellite, which is no good for price and latency reasons (curse my MMO addiction!). My big question is: what is the -actual- current status of WiMAX technology? Different sites have me believing different things and I can't find an exact answer to the question 'When will I be able to buy a WiMAX router and cards so I can remotely receive broadband?' When will WiMAX (802.16) be solidly standardized, out, and affordable? Or is it already there?"
Re:Background (Score:1, Insightful)
It's not just a matter of cards... (Score:5, Insightful)
You do have a few options though. Move, of course... Or, if there's demand in your area, start up an ISP or cooperative. If there isn't demand for at least 10 people, you now know why nobody is offering it in your area.
Sean
Nagging question about bandwidth (Score:5, Insightful)
As I understand, the promises about the speed of WiMax are based on top speed (i.e. 1 user). Multiple users will have to share the same radio frequency and their connection speed will be lower.
I remember reading that 4G cell phone network will (with much lower connection speeds) will require on the order of 500MHz of radio spectrum. To put this number in prospective FCC actions slices of 10MHz for billions of $.
I'm not an expert in radio communications, but I don't see how the numbers (promised connection bandwidth and available radio spectrum) would ever add up. Could someone explain?
Given upcoming oil issues... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Ask Google? (Score:4, Insightful)
Plus the thing about google is, all it does is find published articles, and most of it is marketing hype.
When you ask slashdot, you're asking because you want to know the geekly opinion, which is often quite a bit different, easier, and less annoying, than spending hours wading through internet fluff.
Not according to the Map (Score:2, Insightful)
If you look at the whole of PA, there are large areas without any service.
Pennyslvania is a tough market for any wireless tech. Due to the hilly terrain, line of sight is limited. I'd make sure it works before investing.
I have field agents who use my mobile application in PA and they say most places they hit do not even get crappy cell service. So we set them up with dial up and modems for their PDA's. Cellular modems, from our tests, are slow (1200 - 2400 bps) and dodgy when used over normal cellular networks.
... Although if you can see a broadband tower from your place, cellular broadband would be a nice way to go. And to be honest, I'd prefer it over my home connection of DSL and plan to switch when/if it ever becomes available. I am not holding my breathe.