WiMax is starting to make an impact on how some Americans use wireless Internet connections, but cost and compatibility issues have prompted some users to question whether WiMax is a good investment.
Wimax is currently offered in two American cities. Baltimore got the high-powered wireless Internet service last September, provided by XOHM. The Clear WiMAX service brought WiMax to Portland, Oregon earlier this month.
Not surprisingly, companies with major investments in WiMax are gushing about the services. "I could feel intrigue turn to buzz on the scene," enthused Intel Social Media Strategist Michael Brito in a CES-themed blog post. "But buzz is not momentum unless you see progress. And progress is being made." Intel has been singing WiMax's praises and attacking the competing LTE technology for some time.
Not all of the positive reviews are coming from vested interests. Monica Paolini of Senza Fili Consulting toured Portland's WiMax-covered areas and came back reasonably impressed. "The performance...was consistently good, with throughput typically over 3 mbps in the downlink and between 350 and 400 kbps in the uplink." However, she also found "a few areas without sufficient coverage...but this is to be expected in a new network still being optimized." A Google Maps page shows the locations she visited.
Other people have complained about spotty WiMax coverage. An article in the Baltimore Business Journal quotes Jason Hardebeck, who "gets a full signal from his Phoenix home that sits on a hilltop," but can't get service in other important locations, such as Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. "I could see this being useful if it was $10 a month or less, but any more than that and it's not worth it to me," Hardebeck told the Journal. The service starts at $35 a month.
The monthly bill isn't the only investment. Unlike WiFi, which comes built into every laptop, WiMax requires special hardware. In addition, there are compatibility issues. In a comment to a What We Think blog post, Portland resident Craig complains about buying a Nokia N810 WiMax tablet, only to discover it doesn't work with Clear's service. "If anyone knows of anything different please reply to this before I send this back to Nokia," he pleaded.
The Rocketboom video below explains some potential WiMax applications:
Comments
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Don't expect mobile device will work with any standard. They don't even support standard ear phone plug, power plug, battery, ....
For anyone thats not visited the Baltimore Intl airport (a) its not that close to Baltimore (b) its in the middle of nowhere. I suspect cow pastures will be low on the coverage priority list for any company serious about making money from residents.
Give me a break. "I could see this being useful if it was $10 a month or less, but any more than that and it's not worth it to me" . Who would quote someone who speaks such complete and utter non-sense. Name one SINGLE landline company (cable/dsl) or hell throw satellite in the mix too, that can offer you 3mbit average downlink, and 400kbit uplink speeds for 10 or LESS per month? Now tell me of those, (there are 0, which ones are mobile connections that allow you to drive around in your car with this same speed? Quoting someone like that is just irresponsible. He's obviously completely clueless. At $35 a month it'd still be cheaper then any current cell phones wireless service and much faster, not to mention capable of interactive apps since it has low latency.
And of course there aren't many laptops floating around with the wimax chip built in, obviously intel is working on that piece of the puzzle. It's a new and emerging technology which is much more usable and mobile then wi-fi. It's not going to be fully operational until more locations offer the service and it becomes OFFICIALLY available to the public instead of some lost reporter who claims it isn't worth it because it doesn't cost less then $10 a month.
I live in a Baltimore suburb not more than 10 minutes from BWI and have been using WiMax since it's initial release. It's great, tonight 3.7 Mbs down, 1.2 Mbs up with a "fixed modem", marginally less using an express card. Coverage does continue to be an issue, but it's getting better as DC is starting to have sites come up as well.
Mobile coverage does have it's issues and now Sprint is offering a "combo" card with EDVO and WiMax, but it's a bit pricey - $10 above the standard EDVO plan. Too bad that could take the lead from XOHM/Clearwire (Clear) and be a bit more aggressive with pricing. It's clearly not the technology that is the issue, it's the business model.
I like that fact that there is some competition, at least in the short term, with a very competitive rate plan, I only hope that Clear does not screw with the pricing.
BSNL, which launched India service on Dec. 13, will offer broadband speeds of 7 Mbps at a distance of 15 kilometers from transmission sites. It will also offer mobile wireless broadband. BSNL is pricing WiMAX service at 140 Rupees (about $3) per month in rural areas, the lowest-cost 4G service available in India.
I'm just setting a baseline. Agreeing with prior commentary, at $10/month there's 300% margin, why is the government picking on Microsoft and Intel.
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