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Need4Speed said: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
MaxWi said: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.
MaxWi said: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 said: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.
Need4Speed said: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.