Not so long ago, at the dawn of Wi-Fi, technology analysts were saying that in a few years, computers would be able to connect to the high-speed internet without a telephone or Ethernet line. Not only would they be able to connect, but it would be for free too. “Sure”, I thought. “This will be one of those inventions we were promised that never happened.” Inventions like flying cars, x-ray goggles, and smell-o-vision. Low and behold, it turns out this wasn’t one of those inventions that never seems to come around. Wi-Fi is here to day. In fact, you may be reading this article on a Wi-Fi connection in your home, office, or local coffee shop. The world has quickly embraced the technology, with most new laptops coming from the factory with 802.11g or n connectivity
Perhaps now that the Wi-Fi hype is over, you’ve noticed some of the weaknesses of Wi-Fi. Like how a couple walls can drag your connection speed to a crawl. Or, maybe how you’ve had trouble finding a hot-spot while out on the road. Have you ever wanted to stop driving, park your car anywhere and boot up your computer to use the Internet? This is the future of wireless connectivity. Modern technology like superboost wifi review is now evident in our modern generation. If you check superboost wifi review, you’ll definitely realize how convenient it is now.
WiMax technologies are on the way. WiMax will provide high-speed internet access at long distances. As the name suggests, WiMax (Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access, uses microwaves to achieve this outstanding feat. Much like cell phones, which also use microwaves, WiMax allows users to pick-up a signal from miles away, up to 70 miles in some cases. So, as long as there is a WiMax tower every 70 miles users could be traveling in a car while accessing the internet (someone else would be driving of course!).
How fast is it? Speed depends on how far away from the tower the user is and how many obstacles are in the way. From 10 miles away, a user could see speeds of 10Mbps. This is faster than DSL, which downloads at speeds of 9mbps. At closer ranges WiMax speeds could reach 70mbps, which is more than twice as fast as cable.
Unlike Wi-Fi, which must be connected to a broadband source such as cable or DSL, WiMax actually replaces these sources. Instead of a cable or DSL modem, users would have a WiMax modem of roughly the same size. Yes, this is much too large to fit in your laptop, but don’t worry, advances are being made.
Cell phones are requiring more bandwidth for their features everyday (i.e. text messaging, email, internet access, downloads, etc). Cell phone companies are investing billions (yes billions) of dollars into WiMax. Smart companies, don’t sink that amount of money into something they don’t believe cant work.
With all of the time and money being invested in this technology, there is no doubt that WiMax will make its debut before 2010. It’s only a matter of time (3 years to be exact) before we’ll be enjoying nearly seamless Internet connectivity. Where’s that time machine we were promised?
