Australian WiMax Pioneer Calls It a Disaster

Anonymous Coward writes "Garth Freeman, CEO of Australia's first WiMax operator, sat down at the recent International WiMax Conference in Bangkok and unleashed a tirade about the failings of the technology, leaving an otherwise pro-WiMax audience stunned. His company, Buzz Broadband, had deployed a WiMax network over a year ago, and Freeman left no doubt about what conclusions he had drawn. He claimed that 'its non-line of sight performance was "non-existent" beyond just 2 kilometres from the base station, indoor performance decayed at just 400m and that latency rates reached as high as 1000 milliseconds. Poor latency and jitter made it unacceptable for many Internet applications and specifically VoIP, which Buzz has employed as the main selling point to induce people to shed their use of incumbent services.' We've previously discussed the beginnings of WiMax as well as recent plans for a massive network in India.

Re:The real dissaster is spectrum regulation.

[tomhudson]

Maybe because hundreds of millions of people listen to AM radio every day -- and those of us driving 1991 cars can't just switch to digital radio (too expensive).

If getting rid of the AM band gets rid of all those fundie talk shows, I say nuke it NOW! From orbit! With sharks with frigging lazers stapped to their heads!

You still have FM in a 1991 car, last time I looked.

Re:The real dissaster is spectrum regulation.

[msuarezalvarez]

Why are you looking into other /.er's cars?

Re:The real dissaster is spectrum regulation.

[palegray.net]

all those fundie talk shows

I wholeheartedly agree, Air America [airamerica.com] has got to go.

Re:The real dissaster is spectrum regulation.

[ma1wrbu5tr]

Because my old tube radios will survive the EMP, I'll still be able to listen to the static.

Re:Real life experience with WIMAX

[zappepcs]

You found the problem and didn't even mention it really:

This too was trumpeted as a glorious thing that would change the face of our city

Never believe the hype. WiMax has a great deal of potential but it will never eliminate the common cold, nor compete with wired broadband for a mere pittance of what wired infrastructure costs. It does however have a niche market that is quite a bit bigger than what most people think. As point to point relay for a WiFi network it has some really good uses, just as microwave links are used between cellular sites in some areas.

If you use a Honda to haul gravel you too will be disappointed in the performance... perspective is everything and a damned good car analogy will explain anything