Where are all the WiMax products?

[Planet]

With such companies as Intel, Sprint and Bell South buying into the 802.16 technology, we even have the WiMax Global Roaming Alliance! Why then are we not seeing any products on the market taking advantage of the “30 Mile Radius” and “DSL Like speeds”?

I mean think of all the possibilities!

[wirelessoceans]

Probably because they do not exist. The standard has not been ratified and the initail claims of some of the aformentioned companys are just not realistic. Eweek had a great article last week about WiMax and its inability to live up to the hype. In my opinion the largets single issue with WiMax to rural and underserved areas in the price of CPE (client premise equipment). At an estimated $600-$1200 per CPE per household, I think that it will be sometime before the adoptation of WiMax arrives....by that time 3G cellular, UWB, HSDPA??, and other technologies might be ahead of the struggling WiMax. Oh yeah not to mention the the 3.5Ghz range might not be avaiable as first thought.

[golfnut]

Speakeasy.net partnered with Intel and Alvarion for a WiMax solution with an antenna on top of the Space Needle covering a 5 mile area.

The cost is quite high as Oceans mentioned. They want $500 a month for a 3.0 Mb link and $800 for a 6.0 Mb link and this doesn't include the fee for the CPE device.

I'm not sure if standards are really an issue if it's basically a point-to-multipoint link with WiMax equipment from the same company.

I guess it makes sense if you can't get DSL or Cable and need speeds higher than a T1 but it's damn expensive.

Greg

[FroZone]

Is there a difference between approved (http://www.ieee802.org/16/arc/802-16list2/msg01651.html) and ratified? I thought this was done over a year ago. I remember reading an article about many cities including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Rhode Island and a couple other in the US as well as Delian and Chengdu in China where already WiMAX networks. Like you said, it's an expensive installation but I dont understand why it's so expensive. :confused:

[Planet]

Yeah, our very own Jeff Goldman wrote an article (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/wimax/article.php/3489931) on this topic a couple months ago discussing the issues of jumping the gun on WiMax. The actual certification of the protocol is not scheduled to take place until this July so we will see then if there is an explosion in the market or just a simple thud :D

[MntnMan8000]

With in the last month the Wall Street Journal or Forbs, (I confess I do not remember) said that we will start seeing products within a year.

[FroZone]

Linkage? I searched both but couldnt find the article. :confused:

[MntnMan8000]

They may limit what is published on the web. I will see if I still have the artical.