WiMAX Versus WiFi The Battle or Integration?

WiMAX Versus WiFi The Battle or Integration?

Ron Legarski is a business advisor for WiMAX Services and Wireless Technologies. For more information please visit http://www.wimaxforce.com

WiMAX is the new kid on the block that is offering bigger and better connectivity in a growing wireless world. Wi-Fi has been the dominate player thus far in the telecommunications arena and they will be here to stay for some time. However, WiMAX, commonly known as 4G, offers connectivity with no wires and without users competing for a place at an access point.

When a user connects to an access point using Wi-Fi technology, there is not any priority given to any connection, so one connection can interrupt another one. The general rule of thumb is that the signal closest to an access point, the less interruption there will be. Every time a connection is made, it necessary for a protocol handshake to take place; this happens in a matter of seconds and is transparent to the user.

With WiMAX or IEEE 802.16 technology the connection and handshake once has to place only one time. The connection is given to one user until the user breaks the connection. The quality of service cannot be guaranteed for the lifetime of the connection but the connection is guaranteed.

A WiMAX tower has the capability to pass requests for service over to other WiMAX towers, if they become overloaded. Some people may not understand why the quality of their connection seems less then adequate one time and really good at another. They have probably received service from different WiMAX towers.

The ultimate goal in connectivity is to have a consistent connection that comes with high upload and download speeds. Unfortunately, WiMAX does not come with both. You either get connectivity at high speeds closest to a WiMAX tower or you get low speeds the further away you are from a tower. The point is that you consistently have connectivity. Wi-Fi will be around for quite some time. For the consumers in more developed countries, they will probably have a nice integration of both technologies. It is the under developed countries that will be the biggest benefactors of this technology. WiMAX allows for connectivity without wires.

In developed countries, a lot of the ground work has already been completed with the constant expansions and construction. The newer office spaces and homes have been built with the newer telecommunication technology in mind. Under developed countries could not take on a task of laying all the base work for the newer technologies. WiMAX completely negates that issue because there are not any wires needed.

The most common use for 4G technology is for the iPhone and the network cards for laptops. Comcast and Sprint have already started offering 4G technology to their customers, as an add-on to their existing packages. The complete rollout is going to go city by city across the United States.

The day will soon be long gone when you have to pick your ISP service based on what technology your home is capable of supporting. How many times have you not gotten what you wanted because it would cost too much to convert to whatever? WiMAX takes that problem away because you can connect to the ISP without wires. No one can predict the future but WiFi will be around for some time because it does have its place in our world.

You may also like to see the following articles:

• The 802.16 Wireless Application
• The 802.11 WiFi Wireless Standard Solution
• Wireless Carriers and Global Connections
• The (WISP) Wireless Internet Service Provider Application
• Business Center Solutions For Any Size Business