[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

"WiMAX service will be available directly from both Bell Canada and Rogers Communications. Bell Canada is dubbing its WiMAX service "Sympatico High Speed Unplugged." Subscribers will pay CAN$45 per month for 512Kbps down, but a 3Mbps service will be available for an extra CAN$15 per month. Rogers Communications is calling it "Portable Internet," and is charging CAN$49.95 per month for 1.5Mbps service. Currently, Rogers offers 3Mbps landline service for CAN$43.95."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060402-6507.html

Pretty cool, many people are out of DSL's range and have to use Satellite. This is also a cool alternative as you don't need any software and if you can power it with your car battery it will still work. Pretty much like having wifi that blankets cities.

[FireWire]

That's really good news! I've been waiting for this for so long! Now it's time to finally build that CarPC

It also means that people can kiss outrageous SMS fees goodbye! Email and chat on the go Also, free calling during the day, even when not at home (with VoIP, no need for your cellphone). The possibilities are endless

Champagne, anyone? For one time, Québécois are not left alone! And to top it off, the performance and price are really good! I'm impressed!

[Teronzhul]

Good yes, great, nope.

Download speeds up to 3 Mbps
Upload speeds up to 384 Kbps

Monthly Rate $60.00
Modem Purchase Price
• No agreement $250
• 2-yr agreement $99 ($151 Savings!)
• Shipping & Handling Fee $15
• Activation Fee $0 (Waived - $30 Savings!)

Substantial up front fee in comparison to a $50 cable or dsl modem. Especially since this isn't technically WiMax, but a similar technology which is proprietary and will be incompatible with any other actual WiMax tech outside of Canada.

Bandwidth Usage
3 Mbps – 60 GB threshold
512 Kbps – 4 GB threshold

Ouch, 4GB bandwidth cap for low end.

Plan 1 customers have a 2 GB allowance. Plan 2 customers have a 60 GB allowance. It is your responsibility to make sure you do not exceed the usage allowance. Usage beyond this is subject to an additional charge of $7.95 for every GB used.

Is it 2GB or 4GB?

National Roaming
**Roaming charges will apply Y

Roaming charges for internet access. Sweet.

For a limited time, you can access the Internet from anywhere within the national coverage area (i.e.: take your service outside of the region associated with your account) at no additional charge.

Oh at least the roaming charges will be waived for some as yet undetermined amount of time.

Is the Sympatico High Speed Unplugged service mobile?
No, you will not be able to use your service while you're on the move (e.g.: in a car, on a commuter train, etc.). Unlike cellular service, Sympatico Unplugged will not allow the signal to be seamlessly handed off from tower to tower to maintain a continuous IP connection.

So no downloading of any reasonably large files while on the go.

Of course that assumes that there would be some sort of portable modem, which is difficult to determine whether or not yet exists. They list their modem as "portable" but also show that it needs AC juice to operate.


It is definitely cool, and a step in the right direction, but I think they should have waited until production WiMax units were available and adhered to the standard. I'm sure this would have great appeal to frequent international travelers, except that they went proprietary.

[FireWire]

Well, it's not perfect, but I guess it depends on the way you look at it. If you consider it as a replacement for your home connection, yes it's less than ideal, but for someone wanting to connect on the road (well, while parked for now), it's definitively very acceptable. As it is a new technology, we can expect it to be substantially more expensive for now.

The next best thing is the cellular's data plans, which are as expensive as this, while a lot more slower. The major drawback for now is the non-mobility of the service, which I had overlooked. Anyway, you're not supposed to drive and use the computer at the same time

As for the bandwidth cap, it seems very generous to me! As long as you're not downloading movies or songs all day long, 4 GB seems very large!

Where do I sign?

I agree that they should have waited for the WiMax specification to be finished and marketed. I thought they were in fact using it, but I couldn't find any reference on their website.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by Teronzhul

Good yes, great, nope.



Substantial up front fee in comparison to a $50 cable or dsl modem.

This is not an alternative to DSL it is more of a alternative for Satellite. Take a look at Sat setup fees and what you have to do, it is a major pain in the ass and costs and arm and a leg.

Satellite:
Expensive setup costs and procedure.
not portable
Uses a phone line (some don't)
Needs proprietary software (few have mac support)
Slow
Expensive monthly costs.

WiMax.
Cheaper setup costs
Portable
No Software
Small modem
Cheaper monthly costs.

[production_coordinator]

WiMAX also has a range of up to 30 miles with a typical cell radius of 4–6 miles... which is going to translate into being HUGE for municipalities, colleges, universities, medium/large companies, etc.

I don't think it is a cure all... but it's going to beat many of the Wi-Fi limitations.

Yet another good reason we are now on the Intel boat!

[Railroader]

Sounds like http://www.speednetllc.com which we've had available for about 5 years near me.

But it's only $35 a month here.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

WiMAX also has a range of up to 30 miles with a typical cell radius of 4–6 miles... which is going to translate into being HUGE for municipalities, colleges, universities, medium/large companies, etc.

I don't think it is a cure all... but it's going to beat many of the Wi-Fi limitations.

Yet another good reason we are now on the Intel boat!

Canada also has one of the best wireless coverage areas in the world with 95% of the population able to get a wireless signal.

[Railroader]

That's because 95% of the Canadian population lives with in 5 miles of the US border. just joking you guys!!!

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally Posted by Railroader

That's because 95% of the Canadian population lives with in 5 miles of the US border. just joking you guys!!!

buuuuullllshit. Canada's network is not dependant on the US. We have one of the best networks in the world, way better than the US's.

How the heck did you get off my ignore list? Anywho, goodbye again

[Railroader]

Hook. Line. Sinker.

[Kevin]

My VERY first high speed internet connection I had was wireless. You received the signal the same way one would get a page, or a cell phone call.

Before it hit big and people started abusing it I had no upload cap.

This was in 98/99, at the time it had JUST came out, and we were testing it. I was doing web pages for the company at the time.

Wireless is alright. I like Cable better.

And Rail. white text is sneaky.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Does anyone know if this works like cable or DSL. Meaning is it a shared network that slows down with the number of connected users?

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker

buuuuullllshit. Canada's network is not dependant on the US. We have one of the best networks in the world, way better than the US's.

How the heck did you get off my ignore list? Anywho, goodbye again

Ha ha... I guess you might want to do a little research on who owns those networks... or more to the point... the backbones in Canada.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker

Does anyone know if this works like cable or DSL. Meaning is it a shared network that slows down with the number of connected users?

Each "node" (not sure of the correct term) is shared. It will slow down during periods of high traffic.

Every network has a bottleneck.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

Ha ha... I guess you might want to do a little research on who owns those networks... or more to the point... the backbones in Canada.

Are you saying that Canadians didn't come up with cell phone technology all by themselves and didn't create something completely independent from the rest of the world. BLASPHEMY!!! SARCASM

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Railroader

That's because 95% of the Canadian population lives with in 5 miles of the US border. just joking you guys!!!

I löled

-t