WIMAX is Coming

Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is yet another
method for distributing broadband wireless data over wide geographic areas.
It’s a metropolitan area network service that typically uses one or more base
stations that can each provide service to users within a 30-mile radius. The
IEEE 802.16 specification contains the technical details of WiMAX networks.
In the United States, the earliest WiMAX services were offered by
Clearwire as a wireless alternative to DSL and cable broadband Internet
access in fixed locations (such as homes and businesses), but mobile
WiMAX access is not far behind. By early 2008, Clearwire plans to offer
access to their wireless networks through an adapter on a PC Card. When
those adapters become available, WiMAX, 3G cellular data services, and
metropolitan Wi-Fi networks will compete for the same commercial niche:
wireless access to the Internet through a service that covers an entire metro-
politan area.
Each WiMAX service provider uses one or more licensed operating fre-
quencies somewhere between 2 GHz and 11 GHz. A WiMAX link can transfer
data (including handshaking and other overhead) at up to 70Mbps, but most
commercial WiMAX services are significantly slower than that. And as more
and more users share a single WiMAX tower and base station, some users
report that their signal quality deteriorates.