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- WiMax (802.16e) is a newer standard of wireless networking designed to provide the last mile of high speed internet access to the end user.
- WiMax was designed to provide (MAN) Metropolitan Area Access, to homes and businesses.
- WiMax provides up to 72 Mbit/s symmetric broadband speed without the need for cables
- WiMAX enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL
- WiMAX uses licensed and unlicensed spectrum to deliver a point-to-point connection to the Internet from an ISP to an end user.
- Different 802.16 standards provide different types of access, from portable (similar to a cordless phone) to fixed (an alternative to wired access, where the end user’s wireless termination point is fixed in location.)
- WiMax is developed primarily for wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), with a transmission range of a few kilometers.
- Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access to a network.
- Wi-Fi has primarily been developed for wireless local area networks (WLANs), with a transmission range of up to 100m. Wi-Fi therefore is often used for last-mile delivery, such as hotspots.
- WiMAX and Wi-Fi have quite different Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms.
- WiMAX uses a mechanism based on connections between the Base Station and the user device. Each connection is based on specific scheduling algorithms.
- Wi-Fi has introduced a QoS mechanism similar to fixed Ethernet, where packets can receive different priorities based on their tags. For example VoIP traffic may be given priority over web browsing.
- Wi-Fi runs on the MAC’s CSMA/CA protocol, which is connectionless and contention based, whereas WiMAX runs a connection-oriented MAC.
