WiMAX, IEEE 802.16
WiMAX is an acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 802.16 standards.
In plain English, it’s a wireless form of broadband access. It’s got a longer range than Wi-Fi and provides more bandwidth. 802.16 provides up to 50 km of linear service area range and allow for connectivity without direct line-of-sight. In practical terms the range is somewhere between 5 to 8 km. WiMAX is a point-to-multipoint access technology, and while some claim an aggregated data rate of up to 70 Mbps, enough to support some 60 T1-capacity customers, real world tests show that actual connection speed is somewhere between 500 kbps and 2 Mbps per customer.
The advantage over DSL and cable is that obviously no copper wires or cable networks need to exist at the customer site, making it an ideal technology for rural areas.
Read more about WiMAX at the WiMAX Forum.