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Shocker -- First WiMAX Equipment Actually Certified
from the finally dept
Even as late as yesterday there were rumors that certification of the first WiMAX equipment wouldn't be completed in time to make the WiMAX Forum's self-appointed goal of having an announcement to make at a broadband trade show this week, but in a development completely atypical of the delay-ridden history of WiMAX, they actually made it -- three base stations and one piece of customer-premises equipment are the first real, certified WiMAX products. But, as Steve Stroh points out, this equipment has been certified for 3.5GHz spectrum only -- spectrum only being used outside the US. So, regardless of what press releases and news articles say, there's still no WiMAX in the US. Also, certification testing of 5.8GHz WiMAX equipment -- the stuff that operates in unlicensed frequencies that's spawned the "anybody can be a broadband provider with WiMAX!" stories -- won't begin until the end of the year in the very best case.
Reader Comments
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No Subject Given
Ah, but can they be imported??
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Re: No Subject Given
Yes, but for a large scale implementation, you'd need to import the transmitters/recievers for each pc/notebook/other gadget for each machine on the system, since nothing is compatible with WiMAX yet.
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Re: No Subject Given
saright. All I need is one AP and 3 laptop recievers.
(I wonder if I could hook extenders into neighbors vehicles...set up a roaming, expandable net)
Skynet...here I come!
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Re: No Subject Given
Actually, all of the Intel Centrino processors made in the second half of 2005 are "compatible" with WiMAX. This probably means that a software update sometime in the forseeable future will enable the capabilities of WiMAX. But who knows.
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Re: No Subject Given
it still won't transmit or recieve on the same frequencies
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Importation
The problem seems to be that the "imports" would broadcast on regulated frequences, not that they'll magically stop working in the U.S. or require a wall socket adapter or something.
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Sure,but the FCC wouldn't like that
3.5ghz is licensed in the US; I'm not sure but I think it's being used for cell phones here. If you use that equipment and it interferes with your local cell phone carrier be prepared to be shut down in a HURRY!
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Re: Sure,but the FCC wouldn't like that
3.5 GHz is not used for mobile phones in the US, it's allocated for military applications.
Current Centrino chips _can not_ become WiMAX-enabled through a software upgrade. Their radios simply don't support it.
Furthermore, WiMAX equipment isn't like WiFi -- it's carrier-grade gear, not something you use to set up a home network.
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Re: Sure,but the FCC wouldn't like that
Why all this 3.5/5.8GHz business, soon we'll have two fairly incompatible systems, like PAL/NTSC, GSM/CDMA et al...C'mon can't we agree on one system across the globe?
But on the other hand...competing standards can be a good thing...hmmm
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