Hey guys! Do you face problems connecting to Internet while travelling? Or your connection is too slow to work. You don't have your PC with you and you just have your iPod, and want to be connected to net. No need to worry! Here is the WiMax for solving all your problems. WiMax technology will provide a faster mean to connect to the Internet with your laptops or mobile devices while you are on the go. It will give you a feeling like having an Internet connection in your pocket.

WiMax is a giant leap in the field of wireless communication technology. It is similar to the WiFi service found in airports, coffee shops, and other places but more powerful. It is capable of covering entire cities. It provides faster connection for movies, games and other data services than the latest cellular networks. This technology will allow consumers to use a new range of Internet devices. It has the potential to serve from low density residential applications to enterprise customers.

Peeping into WiMax basics

WiMax stand for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. This name was given by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformance and interoperability of the standard. Wi-Max is a standards based telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over larger distances in different ways. It is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard. Its broader range and bandwidth efficiency are the advantages over Wi-Fi. At every station it can provide speed upto 75 Mbps.

WiMAX offers nomadic, portable, and fast mobile wireless broadband connectivity without the requirement of being in direct line-of-sight with a base station. WiMAX Forum Certified systems possess the capacity to deliver up to 40 Mbps per channel, for fixed and portable access applications, in a typical cell radius deployment of three to ten kilometers.

Benefits over DSL and cable modems

The two most prominent drawbacks with DSL and Cabel Modems are lot of wiring and their low speed. Every few kilometers they require to boost up the speed and hence end up with a mess of wires.

WiMax overcomes these disadvantages.

• No cluttering of wires.

• The high download speed of 75MBps from each station can cover the entire city easy.

• No problems of maintaining the wires and their connection which has definite shortcomings when it gets damaged somewhere.
  
  

The future lies ahead

America's Sprint Nextel and Clearwire have started a joint venture for developing a high-speed mobile network based on WiMax. At the start they are aimed to cover 10 to 15 million people in the United States. In Canada, Bell Canada and Rogers Communications Inc. have invested in Inukshuk Wireless Inc., providing wireless broadband network service based on pre-WiMax standards in about 20 centres across Canada.

IT companies have recognized the potential of WiMax and are working in the direction to provide the customers a fast and omnipresent connection.
It shows a promising future in terms of cost effectiveness and benefits to the consumers. The technology can be combined with multitusde of consumer electronic products. However Wi-Max needs to be integrated with technologies like bluetooth, Wi-Fi and others. Issues like spectrum allocation also needs to be resolved. According to Mr. Wickware, vice-president of Nortel's Carrier Network, "Anything that could or should be connected to the network, will be connected to the network, game consoles, obviously smartphones, digital camera, appliances, vehicles, you name it,".