WiMAX, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is the name for 802.16 family of wireless services. Used as carriers in metropolitan area networks. It has a tremendous range, up to 30 miles, and speeds of up to 70 Mbps. It combines the familiarity of Wi-Fi with the mobility of cellular that will deliver personal mobile broadband that moves with you. It lets us get connected to the Internet, miles from the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot.

1. WIMAX
Welcome to Your
Internet Future

2. What is WiMAX?
WiMAX,
short for Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access, is the name for 802.16 family of
wireless services.
Used as carriers in metropolitan area networks.
It has a tremendous range, up to 30 miles, and
speeds of up to 70 Mbps.
It combines the familiarity of Wi-Fi with the mobility
of cellular that will deliver personal mobile
broadband that moves with you.
It lets us get connected to the Internet, miles from
the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot.

3. Soon,
Mobile WiMAX will blanket large areas
metropolitan, suburban, or rural—delivering
mobile broadband Internet access at speeds
similar to existing broadband.
WiMAX is built for the future with advanced,
efficient wireless
technology that provides higher speeds than
today’s wide area wireless technologies.
It will be able to completely transform our
mobile Internet lifestyle, enabling us to
connect in ways we’ve only dreamed about.

6. The table below summaries the most important flavors of 802.16
standards and their capabilities.

7. WiMAX technology works little different than WiFi
technology. In wifi computers can be connected through
wireless LAN card to near by access point, wireless
router or any Hotspot, it does not works this way when
we talk about connectivity in WiMAX. WiMAX network
connectivity constitutes of two parts, one can define as
WiMAX tower or WiMAX booster, it is known as WiMAX
Base station, whereas the other is WiMAX receiver.

8. WiMAX base station
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It is place where WiMAX signals are broadcasted.
It consists of electronic devices and WiMAX Tower.
This tower works exactly like GSM network phones towers standing
high up in the air to broadcast radio signals.
WiMAX tower base station can cover up 10Km radius.
In theory it suggests to cover a lot more distance than just 10Km, it
can reach some where about 50 km (30 miles), but in fact due to
certain geographical limitations it goes as far as 10 km approx. 6
mils. Any wireless connecting device for WiMAX will connect to
WiMAX network if fallen in to the range.
WiMAX Receiver: It is device or devices which receives the signals
from WiMAX base station and connects to the WiMAX networks.
These devices are usually stand alone Antenna or PCMCIA slot card
for laptops or computers. Connecting to WiMAX base stations works
as similar as connection of Wifi to access point works, the only
difference is that WiMAX covers much wider area.

9. One WiMAX base stations can be connected to several other base stations using high
speed microwave link, this link is usually known as backhaul. This way WiMAX roaming
can be achieved and connections can be maintained on move.
WiMAX support many protocols like ATM, IPv4 Ethernet, VLAN etc, this makes WiMAX a
rich choice for full of services from data to voice.

10. Advantages :
 Single station can serve hundreds of users.
 Much faster deployment of new users
comparing to wired networks.
 Speed of 10 Mbps at 10 km with line-of-site.
 It is standardized, and same frequency
equipment should work together.
 Hassel free installation of the network.

11. Disadvantages :
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Line of site is needed for longer connections
Weather conditions like rain could interrupt the signal.
0ther wireless equipment could cause interference.
WiMAX is very power intensive technology and requires strong
electrical support.
Big installation and operational coast.
Common misconception is that the WiMAX can offer 70 Mbps
in range of 70 miles (113 km) with moving stations. In practice
situation is a very different. It is true only in ideal
circumstances with only one recipient.
With line-of-site (optical visibility), you could have speed of 10
Mbps at 10 km. In the urban environment (without the optical
visibility) users can have 10 Mbps at 2 km. If users are moving,
speed can drop significantly.
Bandwidth is shared among users in a given radio sector. If
there are many users in one sector, they will have lower speed.
Users could have 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 Mbps of the shared
bandwidth.

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