WiMax?

[ShadowMarth]

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

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.

[Fatvod]

good lol i got scared for a second.

[ShadowMarth]

Yeah, they're keeping compatibility in mind for the future, because after all, there are dozens of devices like the DS that run on it, PSP included.

[JIM2003]

31 Miles

I already knew Wi-Max was compatible, so it never worried me. The only problem I see would be one company monopolizing all the Wi-Max access points...

[JIM2003]

That would be very bad.

[Pilot_51]

I'd think most of them would cost as an ISP, but for those that don't we'll get 1337 connectivity with our DS.

[ShadowMarth]

Wow, talk about reviving... This was a very long time ago.

On the subject of WiMax, Sprint's going to be rolling out their own WiMax broadband network with nationwide coverage (like their cellular service).

That's pretty much one example of my concern. Sprint could easily have the most popular WiMax nationwide network, thereby monopolizing this market before anyone has a chance to step in.

No doubt they'd charge a premium to lease the network to other companies.