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Intel Pushes 802.16a Wireless MAN Standard

Posted by michael on from the data-for-everyone dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The 802.16a standard, approved in January of this year, is a wireless metropolitan area network technology that will connect 802.11 hot spots to the Internet and provide a wireless extension to cable and DSL for last mile broadband access. It provides up to 50-kilometers of range and allows users to get broadband connectivity without needing a direct line of sight with the base station. The wireless broadband technology also provides shared data rates up to 70-Mbit/s."

6 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Some acronyms for ya by cmburns69 · · Score: 4, Funny

    LAN = Local Area Network
    WAN = Wide Area Network
    MAN = Metropoliton Area Network
    WOMAN = Wide Open Metropolitan Area Network, which is what most of those 802.11 networks will be...

    An online Starcraft RPG? Only at

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    Online Starcraft RPG? At
    Dietary fiber is like asynchronous IO-- Non-blocking!
    1. Re:Some acronyms for ya by MarkGriz · · Score: 5, Funny

      "WOMAN = Wide Open Metropolitan Area Network, which is what most of those 802.11 networks will be..."

      Presumably these will be equipped with an 802.11g-spot?

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      Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
    2. Re:Some acronyms for ya by swb · · Score: 5, Funny

      Presumably these will be equipped with an 802.11g-spot?

      Yes, except you won't know where to find it, and the equipment will always fake a link light, so even if you think you've found it, you can't be sure.

  2. Re:Security!!! by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny
    Hey I never got much of a chance to read up on this but with the advertised range what is the security like? Dont tell me its like that pushover excuse for protection known as WEP on 802.11b. My big concern is that with all this range it will be hard to pinpoint where the guy with a card and a laptop is tryign [sic] to get your stuff. Or steal connection from an ISP? Anyone got any thoughts or know the security specifics?

    Right on the heels of this article, I'm more worried about War Cooking... gangs of nerdish thugs driving around cities, looking for open access to my microwave.

    07:10 AM Cook for 10 minutes
    07:20 AM Done
    07:22 AM Cook for 15 minutes
    07:37 AM Done
    07:48 AM Cook for 5 minutes
    07:53 AM Done
    08:04 AM Cook for 3 minutes
    08:07 AM Done
    08:14 AM Cook for 25 minutes
    Smoke alarm goes off, firemen arrive, haul smoking carcass of microwave out into street.

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  3. Get the Pringles and call the SETI people! by worst_name_ever · · Score: 4, Funny

    If a Pringles can is able to extend the range of 802.11 wireless LAN to several km, then a similar application of tubular snack food waveguide technology to this new standard ought to solve the question of "are we alone in the universe" once and for all!

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    In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
  4. wires by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Funny

    Plug em in

    Wires are the future

    When all you wireless guys cancer ridden corpses are long since buried, those of us with wires will be enjoying the fruits of the new millenium.

    Ever try to assasinate someone with piano 'air'? No. You need wire.

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    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!