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Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Does New Zealand have a future with WiMAX?
timaaarrreee

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#27534 29-Oct-2008 20:20
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Recently i have been looking and the power of WiMAX

Worldwide
Interoperability for
Microwave
Access
X

With this i thought it woul be great for NZ because it covers a range of 10 KM+ and it travelx through buildings and over ranger with ease. @ 70Mbit speeds..

So does any one know why we don't have this?

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sbiddle
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  #174454 29-Oct-2008 20:27
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We do already have some small scale WiMAX networks.

I believe part of the problem is the fact that much like the hype surrounding 3G technology before it was launched WiMAX simply doesn't deliver performance in real life that even gets close to matching the type.

WiMAX may have promised 70Mbps connections but the reality is it delivers ~2mbps end to end connections. 3G technologies are already surpassing this and I see WiMAX having already been killed by LTE.



johnr
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#174457 29-Oct-2008 20:51
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Type or Hype

timaaarrreee

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  #174459 29-Oct-2008 20:55
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ahhh ok... so its dead really are there any technoligies that could wipe 802.11 as it does not have the distance.



sbiddle
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  #174461 29-Oct-2008 21:00
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johnr: Type or Hype


Meant hype. Fixed now.

sbiddle
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  #174462 29-Oct-2008 21:01
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timaaarrreee: ahhh ok... so its dead really are there any technoligies that could wipe 802.11 as it does not have the distance.


As a fixed terminal replacement WiMAX seems to be doing well overseas.

Woosh still plan to move to WiMAX to replace their existing network but whether that will happen is anybody's guess.

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  #174463 29-Oct-2008 21:25
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sbiddle:
timaaarrreee: ahhh ok... so its dead really are there any technoligies that could wipe 802.11 as it does not have the distance.


As a fixed terminal replacement WiMAX seems to be doing well overseas.

Woosh still plan to move to WiMAX to replace their existing network but whether that will happen is anybody's guess.


I can't see Mobile Wimax having a future in NZ - our geography means it's only good for urban areas, and it's too fiddly/expensive to make it work well over long distances. As a fixed-only access it's cheaper to use a WSA line from Telecom, at least until they junk their analogue network and move everyone to IP (meaning lots of new computers needing depreciation).

And if is wondering how I can comment.... TelstraClear has 11 Wimax towers in NZ running at 3.5ghz.... on which we offer Private IP, High Speed Internet and Next IP voice.... so we've had a little experience in turning down the hype and making things actually work....




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iainw
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  #174568 30-Oct-2008 09:15
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Bear in mind that 802.16 was never intended to replace 802.11.  WiMAX/LTE are effectively competing standards for the dominant 4G telecommunications position.  There are still many vendors in both camps, and it is very far from a done deal as to who will win.  As with GSM vs CDMA, and VHS vs Betamax, there is no guarantee that the technically better solution will win.

802.11 will be around for a very long time, because it solves very different problems than WiMAX or LTE.  It is designed for cost effective, short range high throughput communications - ie indoor networks.  802.16 and LTE, are designed for long range, higher user density, lower throughput networks ie telco networks.

While either technology can be used to solve the others problem in a basic way, they will co-exist for a long time to come.  Good luck to anyone that is trying to convince a Warehouse that they should simply pay telco charges for all mobile computers rather than installing an 802.11 network, or that they should build a WiMAX network to cover their 1500sq m warehouse.

Fraktul
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  #174753 30-Oct-2008 22:21
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sbiddle:

WiMAX may have promised 70Mbps connections but the reality is it delivers ~2mbps end to end connections. 3G technologies are already surpassing this and I see WiMAX having already been killed by LTE.


Throughput is obviously dependent on several variables, however the biggest issue is not so much that the technology does not preform, but the economics of the technology. You can get huge speeds and I have seen them in trails - problem is that trials do not reflect the realworld deployment of the technology due to economic necessity

To obtain reliable high throughput the major one is having large enough spectrum allocations and a reasonable number of subscribers per cell. These actually do hand in hand since the large the number of cells you have then you really need an increase in spectrum to prevent cells interfering with each other.

So you need a heap of base stations, site leases and management, backhaul. This is all over a shared transmission medium, oh and people want it for cheaper than a competing copper connection.

Plain and simple WiMAX does not stand up in an urban environment as a fixed line replacement. As people have pointed out mobile WiMAX is trying to position itself as an alternative to HSPDA and perhaps LTE. Personally I think LTE is the superiour technology and fits in more the evolutionaly plan for mobile netwokr providers far better than mobile WiMAX

WiMAX really only shines in rural locations and the sooner people realise that the better.

ajw

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  #174759 30-Oct-2008 22:45
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It will be interesting to see what will happen with Wimax in NZ. I believe these companies successfully bid for Wimax frequencies in the spectrum auction the government held last December and have five years to use it or lose it.
Telecom, Vodafone, Woosh wireless, Rogers wireless,and I think NZ Comms also got some (Correct me if wrong). Interesting as Rogers wireless last year intimated that they are going to build a nationwide Wimax network. Time will tell.

Dug up this article from Business week concerning the launch of Wimax in Baltimore.



Baltimore's New WiMAX Service Flies Where Wi-Fi Flops

The wireless technology from Sprint Nextel and Clearwire is faster than 3G, ultra-reliable, and a promising alternative for home Internet

By Stephen H. Wildstrom

Can something called WiMAX succeed where other technologies have failed and bring us ultrafast anytime-anywhere wireless data? A couple of years ago promoters said municipal Wi-Fi would do the job, but projects from San Francisco to Philadelphia have been abandoned or scaled back after smashing into economic and technical realities.

The fast 3G networks currently offered by the likes of Verizon Wireless and AT&T (T) are a step up from EDGE and other second-generation networks. But they still offer only limited coverage. And while 3G is fast enough to pump Web pages to iPhones and other smartphones, it can be painfully slow feeding the bigger data appetites of laptops, whose users expect to stream music and watch video. And it is pricey, typically $60 a month for a computer connection.

WiMAX is the latest wireless technology to come on the scene, using very smart physics to achieve extra-high speeds. XOHM, a joint venture of Sprint Nextel (S) and Clearwire (CLWR), has just switched on the first U.S. commercial WiMAX net-work in Baltimore. I took a trip there with a new WiMAX-ready Lenovo (LNVGY) ThinkPad X301 to try it. The experience left me encouraged by the promise of this fourth-generation wireless technology.

XOHM claims average download rates of 2 to 4 megabits per second. When I ran some commercial speed tests, I consistently got downloads at about 3 mb and uploads at 500 kb and 1 mb. That's a bit slower than typical cable service, especially on the download side, but significantly faster than most DSL lines and about three times faster than what I have usually seen on 3G data networks. Perhaps most important, it's fast enough for good-quality video. While someone else drove me around Baltimore's Fells Point neighborhood, I was able to watch Hulu.com's broadcast-quality video with no freezes or pauses to wait for data.

If you happen to live in Baltimore—in the two-thirds of the city that currently has WiMAX coverage—you can get XOHM on-the-go service for $30 a month for six months, rising to $45 after that. At-home service, which requires the purchase of an $80 modem, costs $25 a month, going to $35 after six months. You can combine both services for $50 a month, guaranteed for as long as you maintain the service. XOHM is also available on a month-to-month basis with no contract required, or you can purchase daily service for $10.

XOHM behaves like a 3G network in important ways. Once you've signed up, your computer will automatically connect to XOHM without the need for any sort of login. And since WiMAX is a cellular technology, your Internet connection moves from one cell tower to the next as you drive. In my test, these handoffs were seamless.

WiMAX, like Wi-Fi before it, will require coordination among computermakers. Intel (INTC), which has invested a couple billion dollars in XOHM, is trying to follow its Centrino strategy, which made Wi-Fi a standard, easy-to-use feature in notebooks. The latest Intel laptop chips have WiMAX support baked in, making it cheap and simple for computer companies to add the capability. Lenovo is offering it as a $40 option in four models and plans several more before yearend. Toshiba is building WiMAX into its Satellite U405 laptops.

This doesn't assure success for WiMAX. Verizon and AT&T, as well as wireless carriers throughout Europe, are betting on a related but rival approach called Long Term Evolution (LTE). And XOHM must raise a lot of capital in a difficult environment to build out its network. On the plus side, XOHM has a two-year head start over LTE, since Verizon and AT&T don't plan to roll out 4G before 2010. XOHM has plenty of spectrum in hand to provide national coverage—far more, in fact, than the 4G bandwidth that AT&T and Verizon bought for nearly $20 billion at a government auction earlier this year.

However it plays out, consumers are likely to win. At launch, XOHM is providing faster service at lower cost than 3G networks, and it provides both mobile service and a rival to cable and phone companies for home Internet. That's enough of a reason for all of us to cheer for WiMAX.

 

BUSINESS EXCHANGE: READ, SAVE, AND ADD CONTENT ON BW'S NEW WEB 2.0 TOPIC NETWORK

WiMAX's Hefty Price Tag

While Sprint says its roll-out of WiMAX isn't affected by the global slump, InformationWeek reported on Oct. 8 that the company must come up with $1.8 billion, on top of the $3.2 billion it has already raised from investors.

For InformationWeek's analysis, go to http://bx.businessweek.com/wireless-broadband.


Fraktul
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  #174762 30-Oct-2008 23:00
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IMO Rogers are speculators, nothing more. Even if they arn't they have a snowballs hope in hell of raising the capital for it in 2008.

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