WiMAX For Business Internet?

William writes "Does anyone have firsthand experience with using WiMAX for internet access? Our company is on a T1 line right now and we are looking to upgrade our internet speeds. WiMAX seems to be the most affordable and cost-effective solution in our area [San Francisco], but I have no personal experience with it so far. How is the performance and reliability with WiMAX? I would appreciate any insight you all might have. Thanks in advance!"

Comments

It depends

[Bender0x7D1]

The only thing you can do is ask people who are using your local WiMAX service.

There have been people who have been really happy with the technology and those who have terrible service. Here is a story where an early adopter in Australia has abandoned WiMAX because of poor range - less than 400m indoor and 2km for non-line-of-sight outside - poor latency and jitter. The same story also talks about another provider that has had nothing but success with it.

So, talk to local users and see what performance they get. If it is good performance, make sure you check what equipment and settings they are using. Also, check what range they are operating at and make sure that there aren't any large buildings in your way.