SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series
Wireless Networking
The
Future of Wireless: WiMAX
by Jeff Cohen
Wireless
is a technology that's cheap, easy and useful right now,
and yet it's a technology that's still very young. Here's
a quick look at what the future could hold for wireless.
The
Radio and the Phone
Wireless
networks will always win over wired ones, in the end, simply
because it is cheaper for signals to travel through the free
air than it is to install and maintain wires. If you want
an example of this, consider that telephones were originally
used for sending and receiving news reports. When radio was
invented, this stopped almost overnight -- why bother going
to all that expense when it's free over the air?
It's
the same way with computer networking. Imagine you have a
choice between a wired Internet connection and a wireless
one. Why would you choose the wired one? Because it's cheaper?
That will change soon. Because you know how to use it? Wireless
is easier. There's no reason why anyone wouldn't switch in
an instant, if they had the opportunity.
WiMAX
You
remember that wireless networking today uses a standard called
802.11? Well, WiMAX is 802.16 -- the next generation of wireless.
It's still a work in progress, but the possibilities are
exciting.
WiMAX
stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access, and is designed to complement existing wireless
equipment rather than replace it. The biggest advantage of
WiMAX is in its vastly increased range: instead of being
measured in square metres, WiMAX ranges will be measured
in square kilometres. Some say the strongest WiMAX stations
could transmit for up to 50 kilometres -- over 30 miles!
This
obviously opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Wireless
access would move from LANs to MANs: Metropolitan Area Networks,
covering a whole town or city with wireless access. The question
would no longer be whether there was a hotspot in the area
where you were, but which of the many WiMAX networks you
wanted to connect to.
Other
benefits of WiMAX include speed of up to 70Mbps (almost 10
MB per second), and stronger security. Imagine a future where
ordering Internet access is as simple as connecting your
existing wireless equipment to the network, opening your
web browser, and buying a low cost subscription. That's it
-- done. No more access points, no more routers, no more
configuration... just wireless Internet, everywhere. WiMAX
is going to take the world by storm.
For
the latest news on WiMAX, take a look at the WiMAX Weblog
at http://wimax.weblogsinc.com,
or visit the WiMAX Forum (a non-profit industry group set
up to promote WiMAX) at http://www.wimaxforum.org.
WiMAX has been in development since 2001 now, and the first
WiMAX equipment is currently expected to hit the market as
soon as the end of 2005.
Bluetooth
in Everything
While
Bluetooth's most obvious purpose is to replace USB, it is
designed so that it can eventually replace almost every wire
there is (except power cables). That means that someday your
TV could be connecting to your DVD player by Bluetooth, or
your speakers could connect to your radio with it, and so
on and on.
As
you get older, expect to see fewer and fewer wires. I know
people said the same thing about paper, but it turns out
people like paper and don't want a 'paperless society'. How
many people do you know who have a thing for wires? Exactly.
Once someone figures out a way to provide reliable wireless
power (better batteries?) we'll be set!
A
Simpler Life
When
you read about the potential of wireless technology for a
while, one thing sticks out in your mind: it all sounds so
convenient. Wires have so many flaws, especially when they
go long distances, and the overall wireless project is to
remove them from our lives -- and then charge us less! That
has to be worth supporting, doesn't it? I'll make a prediction
now: I think that, within a decade, wireless access will
be making everyone's life much easier, and they won't even
notice it's there. That's the future of wireless. See you
there.
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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