VISION TECHNOGRAPHY

The wireless world has technologically swept the world by its feet is a conclusion, but enterprises are still trying out which unwired segment would finally make it as the true heir of seamless connectivity- WiMAX or WiFi. In the last couple of years, Indian enterprise have been toying with wireless networking or community called WiFi technology after invoking the 802.11 a , b and g standards specified by IEEE body. Alternatively, WiMAX , a novice wireless technology is competing with WiFi in its bid to be recognized as the default network among enterprises.

USE AND HOW WIFI WORKS

Wi-Fi™ networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11 to provide secure, reliable, fast

wireless connectivity. A typical Wi-Fi setup contains one or more Access Points (APs) and one

or more clients. An AP broadcasts its SSID (Service Set Identifier, "Network name") via

packets that are called beacons, which are usually broadcast every 100 ms. The beacons are

transmitted at 1 Mbit/s, and are of relatively short duration and therefore do not have a

significant effect on performance. Since 1 Mbit/s is the lowest rate of Wi-Fi™ it assures that the

client that receives the beacon can communicate at at least 1 Mbit/s. Based on the settings (e.g.

the SSID), the client may decide whether to connect to an AP. If two APs of the same SSID are

in range of the client, the client firmware might use signal strength to decide with which of the

two APs to make a connection.

A Wi-Fi™ network can be used to connect computers to each other to the internet and to wired

networks (which use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi™ networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4

(802.11b/g) and 5 GHz (802.11a/h) radio bands, with an 11 Mbit/s (802.11b) or 54 Mbit/s

(802.11a or g) data rate or with products that contain

both bands (dual band). They can provide

real world performance similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet networks.

PROBLEMS WITH WIFI

The main problem with wifi is power consumption. According to New York –based ABI research, high power consumption is one of the main issues that hamper widespread WiFi adoption.

The second one is security problem. In 2001,security lapses were indentified in 802.11 Wired Equivalent of Privacy (WEP) – a security mechanism defined by original 802.11 IEEE standard. In fact, telecom major AT&T admitted that they were hit by a slew of hackers who gained unauthorized access into their wireless networks.

Wi-Fi networks have limited range. A typical Wi-Fi home router using 802.11b or 802.11g with

a stock antenna might have a range of 45 m (150 ft) indoors and 90 m (300 ft) outdoors. Range

also varies with frequency band. Wi-Fi in the 2.4 GHz frequency block has slightly better range

than Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz frequency block. Outdoor range with improved (directional) antennas

can be several kilometres or more with line-of-sight.

Wi-Fi pollution, or an excessive number of access points in the area, especially on the same or

neighboring channel, can prevent access and interfere with the use of other access points by

others, caused by overlapping channels in the 802.11g/b spectrum, as well as with decreased

signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between access points. This can be a problem in high-density areas,

such as large apartment complexes or office buildings with many Wi-Fi access points.

Additionally, other devices use the 2.4 GHz band: microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby

monitors, security cameras, and Bluetooth devices can cause significant additional interference.

WHAT NEXT?? THINK ABOUT WIMAX

As per industry sources, many vendors are working on all aspects of securing and transforming wireless technology. The products that are being built today are provisioned in such a manner that they support both WiFi and WiMAX technologies.

Today, with increasing bandwidth-intensive application and data overloaded, most enterprises plan to opt for this wireless technologies so that they are able to distribute broadband bandwidth.

Analysts point out that the choice in adopting technologies like WiFi or WiMAX by enterprises will depend on the need for higher bandwidth and increasing connectivity speed. People would use WiFi in their offices and WiMAX when they are mobile.

Incidentally, technology users had earlier complained that WiFi didn’t support bandwidth-hungry features like video conferencing. Also at times QoS for conferencing was poor.

So for hing bandwidth WiFi is replaced by WiMAX.

Now, question: which is economical?

Installation and vendor equipments costs for WiFi are relatively economical than WiMAX.

While the cost of deployment of a subscriber station for WiFi connectivity varies from $150 to $250, a WiMAX base station deployment would cost around $25,000 to $30,000.

According to analysts, WiFi would operate in an unlicensed spectrum, while WiMAX would require a licensed spectrum.

However, I think service provider opting for a WiMAX license makes business sense, as they are in a better position to handle the initial cost involved in deplument.

So what would you opt for? More secure , highly bandwidth WiMAX or cost-effective WiFi?