WiMax

WiMax is a wireless communication platform that uses a microwave link to provide Internet access across a wide area, possibly as big as 3,000 square miles. It uses a microwave base station with a range of about 50 km and it is capable of providing 70 Mbps and higher connectivity using licensed and un-licensed frequency bands of 2 – 11 GHz and 10 – 66 GHz.

In many ways it can be considered as a large area WiFi reducing the need to move from hot spot to hot spot when trying to use a laptop on the move. For mobile applications it competes with LTE (4G) which is more-or-less a plug-and-play extension of the existing 3G system in the UK meaning operators have increased speeds without the need to install a completely new platform. For fixed connectivity the wide area coverage of WiMax has proven to be effective for establishing connectivity in disaster zones and it has become more popular in emerging markets where established cable connections are not available.

This article was created by --BRE. It was taken from The future of electricity in domestic buildings, a review, by Andrew Williams, published in November 2014.

[edit] Find out more

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Bluetooth.
• CAT5.
• Ethernet
• Extranet
• Glossary of electrical terms.
• ICT and Automation (ICTA) Scoping Study Report.
• Information and communications technology.
• Internet of things.
• Local area network.
• Smart buildings.
• Smart cities.
• Smart technology.
• The future of electricity in domestic buildings.
• WiFi.
• ZigBee.

[edit] External references

• Intel. Welcome to Your Internet Future – Mobile Broadband brought to you by WiMAX.