WiFi, WiMax, LTE – can you ditch that T1 yet?

Is WiMax ever coming?  Perhaps folks across the country would love to ditch their T1, DSL  and Cable-Modems in favor for WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) broadband wireless technology.

Why is it that this technology has not taken hold – and … will it ever?

WiMax can cover up to 31 square miles instead of the few hundred square feet per access point provided by the more familiar 802.11g and 802.11n Wi-Fi technologies. In theory, WiMax can also deliver more than 75Mbit/sec. data-transfer speeds.

WiFi or WiMax:   The theoretical speeds however are not close to the real world experience the HostMedic testing labs found.   “Speed and coverage area depend on several factors, such as frequency, terrain and tower height, stated the engineer, Mark Stephenson of Country Connections – the firm hired to perform the testing.   While testing WiFi equipment from Ubiquity Networks and LigoWave – speeds of up to 30Mbps were attained over a 14 mile rage.

Will WiFi and WiMax gain traction and surpress Long-Term Evolution (LTE) which promises faster and farther access?   Companies like Ubiquity Networks hope so – and have made it quite reasonable for WISP‘s to gain traction.

Long-Term Evolution, like WiMax, is a 4G wireless data transfer technology that promises similar ranges and performance. However unlike WiMax, which is based on an IEEE standard, LTE is driven by a loose collection of telco companies that support the existing Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) standard.

What LTE has going for it – is the cell-phone market globally is behind it vs the WiMax folks – which has virtually no one besides ClearWire, AT&T as well as Sprint/Nextel performing any installs…  And Each of these are already looking at LTE.

For many WISP’s these two technologies are, however, running a different race. WiMax rollouts are being aimed at the urban areas by the aformentioned companies – however smaller WISPs are utilizing the technology to areas where there is a demand for broadband – but virutally nothing in terms of a wired infrastructure to deliver High Speed Internet.