Tech Demystified – WiMAX

During the recent BWA auctions, the government has earned a lot of revenue to mitigate a part of its burgeoning fiscal deficit. But very few people know what this technology is and its superiority over the current technologies. So lets have a spot light on this technology.

WiMAX is a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of  last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL. WiMAX supports the technologies that make triple-play service offerings possible (such as Quality of Service and Multicasting). As a result, it is possible for a WiMAX operator to not only provide high-speed broadband internet access, but also VoIP and IPTV services to customers with relative ease. This enables a WiMAX service to be a replacement for DSL, Cable and Telephony services. It is notable that WiMAX is more similar to Wi-Fi than to3G cellular technologies.

Like all wireless technologies, WiMAX can either operate at higher bitrates or over longer distances but not both: operating at the maximum range of 50 km (31 miles) increases bit error rate and thus results in a much lower bitrate. Conversely, reducing the range (to under 1 km) allows a device to operate at higher bitrates.

Comparisons and confusion between WiMAX and Wi-Fi are frequent because both are related to wireless connectivity and Internet access.

  1. WiMAX is a long range system, covering many kilometers, that uses licensed or unlicensed spectrum to deliver connection to a network, in most cases the Internet.
  2. Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access to a local network.
  3. Wi-Fi is more popular in end user devices.
  4. Wi-Fi runs on the Media Access Control’s CSMA/CA protocol, which is connectionless and contention based, whereas WiMAX runs a connection-oriented MAC.
  5. WiMAX and Wi-Fi have quite different quality of service (QoS) mechanisms