Nathan's Occasional Blog

Normally my definition of cheap broadband is “borrowing” a WiFi connection off of someone who has no clue how to set up a wireless network, but this will substitute in a pinch.  Plus it’s got a killer range – 22km!  Low power eh … wonder if you could get this down to a laptop or PDA platform (or does it need a stationary antenna)?  Any way, pretty sweet.

My favorite DSL company Speakeasy is running a WiMAX trial in downtown Seattle that looks cool, but the coverage area is pretty small even though they’re using the Space Needle as a tower.

xMax: Cheap wireless broadband?:

A company called xGTM Technology has developed a new low frequency wireless networking protocol called xMax that can cover a wider area than either WiMax or Flash-OFDM (they claim a maximum range of 22km) and has a signal that’s better at penetrating buildings. The best part is that it doesn’t need a dedicated swath of spectrum to work, xMax transmits at powers that are low enough not to interfere with other signals, which means it can use radio channels that are already being used for other purposes. The first xMax wireless network is being built out in Miami and Fort Lauderdale right now, and they claim that one base station can deliver wireless broadband to up to a thousand users across a 40 square mile area.