WiMax finally gets real

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.

It's this interoperability that I think is one of WiMax's best points. Mobile WiMax devices, unlike mobile phones and mobile networks and 802.11n equipment should work together seamlessly. "WiMax is the only technology to certify base stations and terminals to ensure that interoperability is carried across all levels of the WiMax network when WiMax Forum Certified products are used in a deployment," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMax Forum in a recent statement. "When compared to other wireless standards, it is considered an improvement to test products with base stations to ensure interoperability, which is the core value proposition of the WiMax Forum's standard."

No, WiMax is not as fast as 802.11n. Putting all the theoretical bandwidth numbers to the side since they're meaningless outside of a lab anyway, you're really only going to see 3 to 4Mbps from a WiMax device. I've gotten 802.11n devices in my office, when all the bits and pieces are from one vendor, to crack 30Mbps. On the other hand, I can only get 802.11n connectivity to deliver the goods at a maximum range of 80 yards. 802.11g does a bit better. I've been able to get a useful connection out of 802.11g up to a hundred yards.

WiMax, on the other hand, can go for miles in the country and have a useful radius of about a mile in an urban environment. Xohm President and Sprint Chief Technology Officer Barry West believes business customers will be the first to move to Mobile WiMax and why not since he's thinking about "hotspots the size of a city."

Yes, I know a mile radius would make for one small city.One of the beauties of WiMax, though, is that, like modern mobile phone systems, as you move from one location to another, your connection to the network is automatically handed off from one base station to another. That's one trick that's not in the Wi-Fi playbook.

In addition, you can use WiMax, without jumping through hoops, to do more than just send TCP/IP networking data. You can use it for voice, data, and multimedia.

Why do you think the cable companies-Comcast Corp. and Time-Warner Cable-are in on this deal? Mobile networking is all well and good, but they want to be able to compete with the telephone companies with mobile voice as well.

Today, if you want everything in a package deal-TV, the Internet, mobile and fixed voice-you really need the kind of deal that AT&T and its new ally Dish Network can provide. As Mobile WiMax is rolled out, the cable companies will be able to offer you the same kind of all you want to do tele/data communications packages.

As ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis said about the cable companies' role in an analyst note on the announcement, "Competing against telcos that have moved into their video markets, they have long wanted wireless in their portfolios. Now they are part-owners of a mobile wireless network."

I'm not saying that Mobile WiMax is going to revolutionize the wireless world tomorrow. It won't.

Sprint has already run into the problem that to be able to deliver bandwidth to WiMax customers first they need to get sufficient bandwidth to their ground-stations. A few T-1s-1.544Mbps--just won't cut it. Getting the necessary backhaul/backbone Internet connections is where I see most of the project's $14.5 billion going.

Still, with a solid, standards-based technology that works and billions of dollars behind it, I can see millions of people using WiMax on their computers, mobile phones and other wireless devices-say streaming video to a Mobile WiMax enabled Apple iPod-by 2010.

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