A new technology standard on the way will change the economics of Internet access--and make Wi-Fi look feeble.
WiMax's first appearance, however, will take place in more public venues. Equipment meeting the standard will allow a new wave of small and medium-sized businesses to go wireless, abandoning the expensive T1 lines they currently rent from local or regional phone companies. New Wi-Fi base stations designed to connect to the Internet via WiMax could also create mobile-computing hot spots in places without phone lines -- think the Great Lawn in Central Park. And WiMax networks could extend broadband Internet access to poor regions that currently have none.
WiMax -- an acronym for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access -- is little more than a long list of technical specifications intended to ensure that wireless equipment from different vendors can interoperate at high speeds. Also known as 802.16, the specifications have been under development since the 1990s as an alternative to technologies such as Ethernet and Wi-Fi. A single WiMax transmitter will transmit voice, video, and data signals across distances of up to 50 kilometers (assuming an unobstructed line of sight) at rates as high as 70 megabits per second -- enough to support about 60 businesses at T1 speeds, or hundreds of homes at DSL speeds.
This artcile has been written by Wade Roush. Please check for details on this link.