Wireless Waters

MIMO Technology - Wireless Connectivity the new way..

If you are one of those people like me, you might have wireless enabled your home 3 years ago.. we were talking 802.11a or may be 802.11b.. That is what my brain can think... After installing my wireless network at home a few years ago, I never went back to the Wireless section of Best Buy lately, just because I have a working wireless network at home.

However, the wireless world would not stop.. would it? They came up various wireless protocols, which I would not get into.. But check this new thing out.. MIMO...

MIMO stands for Multiple In, Multiple Out. MIMO doubles the spectral efficiency compared with that of current WLANs. The maximum data rate for 802.11g and 802.11a networks is 54M bit/sec, though actual throughput is closer to 20M to 30M bit/sec. Current MIMO techniques can boost raw WLAN throughput to 108M bit/sec, supporters say. Wow.. these speed mongers..

If you drop into BestBuy or Circuit City and walk into the Wireless section (Wireless Networking, I meant..), you would see a lot of MIMO now.. I was surprised to see vendors selling this stuff already. I guess, I am too slow... I was thinking this stuff is still in the books.. huh..huh.. no way.. MIMO  is out there kicking and alive and is being widely accepted both at homes and offices alike.

If you are looking to install or upgrade your Wireless network, this is the new thing. Ofcourse, there is 802.11n, which is based on MIMO that is coming out.. May be it is out there.. but, as of now, MIMO is the winner..

Go MIMO...
Steve Lokam
wirelesswaters.typepad.com

WiMAX -- Ready or Not?

In an interesting article in Unstrung (www.unstrung.com) [WiMax: Hyped, but not Backed?,1.24.06]     http://www.unstrung.com/document.asp?doc_id=87448&WT.svl=tease1  Gabriel Brown describes the amounts and sources of venture funding for WiMAX.  and draws conclusions on the readiness for market of this quickly evolving technology.  WiMAX offers loger distances and higher speeds for utdoor wireless networks, and, with the recent approval of the 802.16e mobile WiMAX protocol, WiMAX offers the promise of near-term wireless networks which work at 50 mph and hihger speeds, enabling seemless high-speed data handoffs as subscribers move rapidly across coverage areas.