802.16 Equipment Required

[amanjee]

Hi

Where and what 802.16 Wimax equipment is there available at the moment?

Thanks

[Connection]

Try www.miro.co.za but not sure what they have.

[daffy]

Keep in mind that 802.16 isn't an official standard yet.

[Chaz]

Hi Daffy, LTNS - WiMax 802.16 (D/2004) is official.

[MaxWi]

The simple answer is that there is no WiMAX equipment available anywhere in the World, as no-one has yet completed the Cetecom certification process in Malaga, Spain nor has interoperability been demonstrated. In order to have the wimax sticker on equipment this is what has to be shown. There are plenty of manufacturers saying they have wimax gear, but these claims are false. In truth, the best they can claim at this point is that they have 802.16- 2004 compliant kit. In terms of the 802.16e standard, it has not yet been finalised, and as such, no-one can claim they are building mobile wimax gear. At best their labs are guessing what the final standard will be and they are developing product in anticipation of this.

I am amazed at manufacturers who believe they will launch mobile wimax product first. To me that is like wanting to race an F1 car with a driving lesson or license. Fixed WiMAX is challenging enough to make, and those companies who perfect this technology will be in a much stronger position to deal with the demands of mobility. I also question those manufacturers who are producing inefficient FDD equipment. WiMax 3.5 GHz spectrum is scarse stuff, TDD is far more efficient. Most other mobile technologies are either already using or moving to TDD as it is far more suited to space.

[Need4Speed]

At the moment the big players are (and I'm talking professional, $50k equipment):

1). www.nextnetwireless.com
2). www.alvarion.com
3). www.redlinecommunications.com
4). www.airspan.com
5). www.wi-lan.com

[Chaz]

At the moment the big players are (and I'm talking professional, $50k equipment):

1). www.nextnetwireless.com
2). www.alvarion.com
3). www.redlinecommunications.com
4). www.airspan.com
5). www.wi-lan.com

I would remove Next Net and WiLan from that list. Alvarion are top - followed by Airspan (both israeli for interest sakes) - Redline seem to be struggling to keep up a bit.
NextNet is more in the Navini category and not generally for FWA and currently do not have a 'wi-max' competitor - WiLan is just too expensive and not really competitive.

[Chaz]

The simple answer is that there is no WiMAX equipment available anywhere in the World, as no-one has yet completed the Cetecom certification process in Malaga, Spain nor has interoperability been demonstrated. In order to have the wimax sticker on equipment this is what has to be shown. There are plenty of manufacturers saying they have wimax gear, but these claims are false. In truth, the best they can claim at this point is that they have 802.16- 2004 compliant kit. In terms of the 802.16e standard, it has not yet been finalised, and as such, no-one can claim they are building mobile wimax gear. At best their labs are guessing what the final standard will be and they are developing product in anticipation of this.

I am amazed at manufacturers who believe they will launch mobile wimax product first. To me that is like wanting to race an F1 car with a driving lesson or license. Fixed WiMAX is challenging enough to make, and those companies who perfect this technology will be in a much stronger position to deal with the demands of mobility. I also question those manufacturers who are producing inefficient FDD equipment. WiMax 3.5 GHz spectrum is scarse stuff, TDD is far more efficient. Most other mobile technologies are either already using or moving to TDD as it is far more suited to space.

I dont personally agree with your TDD and FDD viewpoints in a general FWA scenario - for WiMax - perhaps - it depends on what type of network you are trying to build and what you are trynig to achieve from a QOS point of view and a service point of view and both of these are then directly connected to the cost factor again.

[MaxWi]

I would remove Alvarion from this list as they are not participating in the Certification currently going on in the Cetecom labs in Malaga, Spain. No Certification - no WiMAX product.

[Chaz]

I would remove Alvarion from this list as they are not participating in the Certification currently going on in the Cetecom labs in Malaga, Spain. No Certification - no WiMAX product.

Must admit - that sounds a bit hard to believe. Alvarion thus far have been one of the first with pre WiMax and have also been dealing with Intel on a very big basis for chipsets etc. Ill phone a friend :-)

[Need4Speed]

I would remove Next Net and WiLan from that list. Alvarion are top - followed by Airspan (both israeli for interest sakes) - Redline seem to be struggling to keep up a bit.
NextNet is more in the Navini category and not generally for FWA and currently do not have a 'wi-max' competitor - WiLan is just too expensive and not really competitive.

I disagree. 802.16d != WiMax. Just because these vendors chose not to go for Intel's Rosedale 802.16d doesn't mean they don't do WiMax. Many of them are aiming for 802.16e.

[Chaz]

I disagree. 802.16d != WiMax. Just because these vendors chose not to go for Intel's Rosedale 802.16d doesn't mean they don't do WiMax. Many of them are aiming for 802.16e.

If 802.16d = 802.16(2004) - then how come this is not WiMax?

The fact that Intel have Rosedale, and that there are others (Fitjitsu) etc making 'WiMax' compatible chips or in the case of others something called SOC for future expansion (Airspan for example in some of their product line up) - WiMax can be achieved in different ways - as long as the same standards are applied. Intel chip / other chip - does not really matter.

[Need4Speed]

Sorry, my bad :->

What I meant was 802.16d is not the only WiMax in town. Just like WiFi includes 802.11a, b and g WiMax includes more than one IEEE standard. Refer to http://www.wimaxforum.org/technology, WiMax includes 2-11GHz and 10-60GHz.