Recent news that Vonage, a popular VoIP phone service, is switching to WiMax concerned me. This could set a precedent, meaning that 802.11b is deemed obsolete. Seeing as the DS is made for that, I quickly set off to Wikipedia to see if we were in any trouble. Fear not, it is completely compatible, so the only change will be increased banwidth and range.
Thanks to the many people who update Wikipedia
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WiMAX is a wireless metropolitan area network (MAN) technology that can connect IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi) hotspots to the Internet and provide a wireless extension to cable and DSL for last mile (last km) broadband access. IEEE 802.16 provides up to 50 km (31 miles) of linear service area range and allows users connectivity without a direct line of sight to a base station. Note that this should not be taken to mean that users 50 km (31 miles) away without line of sight will have connectivity. The technology also provides shared data rates up to 70 Mbit/s, which, according to WiMAX proponents, is enough bandwidth to simultaneously support more than 60 businesses with T1-type connectivity and well over a thousand homes at 1Mbit/s DSL-level connectivity.
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