What is WiMAx?
The BigAir network is designed to support WiMAX. WiMAX is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, see http://www.ieee.org ) standard designated 802.16-2004 (fixed wireless applications) and 802.16e-2005 (mobile wireless). The industry trade group WiMAX Forum (http://www.wimaxforum.org ) has defined WiMAX as a "last mile" broadband wireless access (WIRELESS BROADBAND) alternative to cable modem service, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or T1/E1 service. WiMAX is also an acronym for World-wide Interoperability for Microwave Access.
WiMAX uses microwave radio technology to connect computers to the Internet in place of wired connections such as DSL or cable modems. WiMAX works very much like cell phone technology in that reasonable proximity to a base station is required to establish a data link to the Internet. Users within 5 to 8 kilometres of the base station will be able to establish a link using non-line-of-sight (NLOS) technology with typical data rates of 30Mbps. Users at typical distances of up to 20 kilometres from the base station with an antenna mounted for line-of-sight (LOS) to the base station will be able to connect at data rates as high as 100Mbps.