subject: Wimax Isn't As New As Marketing Leads You To Believe [print this page] As cell phones become more powerful and computers get more portable, internet connections are going to start to become more important. In fact, a major selling point of a cell phone now is whether or not it's going to be able to access the internet at broadband speeds across your entire city. Although marketing campaigns would lead you to believe that wireless broadband connectivity is something new, it's actually not. It has been around for a while in the form of a Wimax connection and it's most definitely something that should be getting more attention.
Cellular connections in general aren't all that new either. The older 3G network allowed for wireless connectivity across entire cities but for a number of reasons it never really caught on. First of all, it was always associated with cell phones and it never got a chance to take center stage. Second and more importantly, it never could come close to offering what cable and DSL could offer in terms of speed. Finally, some technologies are just a little bit ahead of their time and some would say that's the situation 3G was in. People just weren't ready for a wireless internet connection that allowed them to use the internet everywhere.
Shop around for a cell phone now and you'll be flooded with information about a new way to connect to the internet, but now you know better. Now you know that such connections have been around for a while. You'll also hear a lot about 4G service, but that too is not something new. That has been quietly expanding across the nation and is currently available in a surprisingly large number of cities. Don't believe when people say that a new network has just been rolled out because that's probably not true.
The only thing to consider is there are two competing standards going head to head right now. One of them actually is relatively new. In fact, some would say that it's too new. Known as Long Term Evolution, or LTE, it really is just starting to be deployed, but in this case that should be a mark against it. That's because it's competitor, Wimax, has been around a while longer and has more experience in that realm. In the end, this will mean it has worked out the initial kinks and is ready to offer a full-fledged service to customers that sign up. LTE, on the other hand, could have some problems in store for subscribers because of how new it is.
Wimax is the reason why wireless broadband options that work across entire cities are nothing new. As previously mentioned, it's been around for a while already and if you doubt that you can see for yourself in the amount of coverage area it enjoys. It takes time to build that kind of thing. If you're in the market for a great wireless solution, the option with experience under its belt would definitely be your best bet.
