WiMAX (802.16) is the latest hyped radio technology, to be sure. Some equipment is already available, but not yet in this country. General availability of the gear in the US is projected for late this year. With data rates up to 75Mbps, a range up to 30 miles for point-to-point NLOS transmission and a typical cell radius of 4 – 6 miles, I believe it will be used extensively for wireless backhaul from Wi-Fi access points and other broadband. There's a mobility variant of 802.16 that could muddy the water. WiMAX is intended as a Metro Area Network standard and 802.20 is intended as a Wide Area Network standard, but there will likely be a lot of overlap between the two. If you haven't heard about WiMAX yet, believe me, you will. It's likely to be excessively hyped this year. http://www.wimaxforum.org/home Mike Ellsworth StratVantage Consulting, LLC Helping Successful Companies Make Winning Technology Decisions 8273 Westwood Hills Curve St. Louis Park, MN 55426 952-525-1584 mellsworth at stratvantage.com www.StratVantage.com Get a free one-hour wireless network evaluation. Forward this message to freebie at theWiMAXGuys.com www.TheWiMAXGuys.com They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Ben Franklin, ~1784 -----Original Message----- From: tcwug-list-bounces at tcwug.org [mailto:tcwug-list-bounces at tcwug.org] On Behalf Of Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 10:03 AM To: Twin Cities Wireless Users Group List Subject: Re: [TCWUG] 4th Question: What's current status of 802.16 and 802.20? On 01/16 02:06 , Leif Pihl wrote: > Now or Future?: {Status of: 802.11 v. 802.16 v. 802.20} > (2) I know that: one or both are supposed to provide for much longer > distances, one is more suited to transmissions while in motion and > one will probably come to market faster because it's a variation on an > already existing protocol. > > That's _IT_. What I do not have is any real-world knowledge of what's > actually available now or in the near future, and how this technology > could affect my purchasing decisions. > > - What is the current and near-term status of 802.16 and 802.20? I've never heard of them before, and they sound like some company's proprietary 'standards', which no one else will use. ;) My advice is to treat wireless gear like any other technology gear. Buy it when you need it; not before, not afterwards. Carl Soderstrom. -- Systems Administrator Real-Time Enterprises www.real-time.com _______________________________________________ Twin Cities Wireless Users Group Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.tcwug.org tcwug-list at tcwug.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tcwug-list _______________________________________________ Twin Cities Wireless Users Group Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.tcwug.org tcwug-list at tcwug.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tcwug-list