Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, popularly known as the WiMAX refers to broadband wireless networks that are based on the IEEE 802.16 standard, officially known as the WirelessMAN. The WiMAX standard specially ensures the compatibility and interoperability between various broadband wireless access equipments, which uses the IEEE 802.16 protocols for standard communication. The WiMAX has a range of up to 31 miles, and is primarily aimed at making broadband network access widely available without the expense of stringing wires. We may recall here that WiMAX has much wider area coverage than the standard Wi-Fi network. A typical Wi-Fi home router using 802.11b or 802.11g with a stock antenna might have a range of only 45 m indoors and 90 m outdoors.
In the words of the WiMAX Forum (the organization dedicated to certifying the interoperability of various WiMAX products), WiMAX is “a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL“. This standard will provide high-speed data and telecommunications services and a diverse source of Internet connectivity. Another great advantage of WiMAX is its backward compatibility with the Wi-Fi Standard networks. That means with WiMAX, you can connect Wi-Fi hotspots with each other and to other parts of the Internet. However, we should remember that WiMAX is very different from Wi-Fi in the way it works.
Sometimes, the WiMAX network may be confused with the Wi-Fi network. It is true that both standard uses the IEEE 802.xx protocols, but the two are very different in the way they work as well in the features they provide. The main difference being the network range each standard can cover. The WiMAX uses licensed spectrum to deliver a point-to-point connection to the Internet from an ISP to an end user while the Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access to a network, typically covering only the network operator’s own property.
The advantages of the WiMAX technology was clearly seen when it was used for communication in Aceh, Indonesia, after the attack of the Tsunami in December 2004 when all other communication infrastructures in that area were destroyed making the surviving people unable to communicate with people outside the disaster area and vice versa. Seeing its potential, many companies today are closely monitoring the development of this technology. Big cellular companies, like the Sprint Nextel has already announced its USD 300 Billion investment policy in a big WiMAX Technology buildout over the next few years. The trend is still going. In fact, this trend of high-end technology development in the field of communication will never stop growing. The electronics and telecommunication industry spearheaded by Samsung Electronics and ETRI in Korea has even developed its own standard called the WiBRO and Intel and LG Electronics has already agreed on interoperability between WiBro and WiMAX.
