View Full Version : why WiFi???
in dailywireless it said
'WiFi was never designed for city-wide coverage. Wi-Fi infrastructure, at $100K per square mile, is just too expensive and unreliable. It doesn’t scale well. '
But why are they so many WISP using WiFi but not Wimax?
MaximumISP
01-21-2009, 06:01 AM
That is a pretty accurate statement really
( but I disagree somewhat with the 100G per sq calculation )
The Reason is the low Cost of wifi
some of the better wifi gear like Canopy ect
use some majic ( ie GPS sync and polling and is proprietary) to make it more reliable and scale better although they are more expensive they do scale quite well to larger deployments
WiWax is typically very expensive and usually involves licensed spectrum So its not very cost effective to deploy
Wifi can reach the most for the least
Granted WiFi wasn't designing for city wide coverage. The $100,000 per square mile might be a reasonable estimate for 90% indoor coverage, but its five times the cost of a lot of other muni wireless deployments in the past.
Chicago - 220 square miles, 7,500 access points, $18.5 Million
Google's Mountain View - 12 square miles, 400 access points.
Houston - 640 square miles, $50 Million
Corpus Christi - 147 square miles, $7.1 Million
WISPs don't use WiMax because its so new and its costs hundreds of times more to deploy than unlicensed wireless due to the licensing. And keep in mind, WiMax has not lived up to all the hype, i.e. mega-bps speeds at 30 miles.
CPE on wifi cost something about 50-100euro,
CPE on Wimax ....?
there is a answer
WiMax CPE....$500 for a PCMCIA card, $700 for a desktop unit. Generally speaking.
UBNT-Mike.Ford
01-22-2009, 05:03 PM
WiMax deployment costs are astronomical and do not make for a cost effective WISP solution. Not to mention it works like crap when you have a high subscriber count. It works great with low subscriber high bandwidth cases...aside from the rediculous cost.
Thanks,
Mike
rodneal
01-26-2009, 07:58 AM
The $$$$ dictates the business model.
The business model that makes sense for the little guy is pennies on the dollar.
Most of us do not have huge funding - we either starve as we build or we work 2 jobs and starve as we build.
Huge debt to service and - as my momma used to say - too dumb to know when to quit.
Also - we go where the consumer is - what they buy at Walmart.
2.4gh
The theory of WiMax is what wet dreams are made of when you watch life styles of the rich and famous.
Sounds awesome but the truth is rarely revealed on form and function.
Rod
Sounds awesome but the truth is rarely revealed on form and function.Micro$oft Vista? :lol:
