Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
|  Good idea
This is a great move for Comcast (and Time Warner who will likely follow suit soon) ... now they have a wireless option to offer. They can do voice and/or data wirelessly without having to invest billions building out a national network like Verizon and AT&T ... or implementing a hackneyed WiFi solution like Cablevision.
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Linux Haters Unite! |
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funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC | I don't see the Vision
What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network? |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | reply to Matt
Re: Good idea
I don't get it. How can Comcast deploy a mobile wireless solution without significant investment? Placing micro-POPs in customers' homes doesn't make a wireless network, especially if they're relying on residential capped service as the backhaul. |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | reply to funchords
Re: I don't see the Vision
Nothing much from what I'm reading, except for the need to purchase new radios for everything that you want to communicate with. |
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xenophon
join:2007-09-17
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
2 edits | reply to funchords
What Comcast might do though is setup these WiMAX repeaters on top of apartment/condo buildings so that they don't have to wire up every unit. They can't do that with WiFi as reliably today for large buildings. They could even cover entire neighborhoods with one repeater.
And then you could have a WiMAX/WiFi router to cover all your devices. |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
 ·Comcast
| reply to funchords
said by funchords  :What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network? Wi-fi networks operate in unlicensed spectrum, wheres femtocells do use licensed spectrum. |
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funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Skype
| reply to xenophon
said by xenophon :What Comcast might do though is setup these WiMAX repeaters on top of apartment/condo buildings so that they don't have to wire up every unit. Yeah, but it did say "femtocells" ... maybe that's only be half of the idea above.
If that's the case, I could see this vision as Comcast could also extend its footprint by 25 miles. It could deliver TeeVee on a Switch Digital basis (no "always on" broadcast) and still have room to spare for HSI and Phone.
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Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| reply to openbox9
Re: Good idea
said by openbox9 :I don't get it. How can Comcast deploy a mobile wireless solution without significant investment? Placing micro-POPs in customers' homes doesn't make a wireless network, especially if they're relying on residential capped service as the backhaul. They invested heavily in Clearwire, this is just the first fruits of that investment to come out of the planning stages. They will resell Clearwire/Xohm service, which is mobile WiMAX ....
Imagine grabbing your WiMAX laptop or phone handset and seamlessly going from home to the store, the mall, etc. While you can do that now with HSDPA/EVDO, the speeds and latency are terrible. WiMAX would allow any handset manufacturer to include a VoIP app for instance ...
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Linux Haters Unite! |
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xenophon
join:2007-09-17
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
4 edits | reply to funchords
Re: I don't see the Vision
I think that's what they ultimately want to do. As part of the Sprint/Clearwire deal, they specifically wanted 5Mhz (out of 100Mhz+ per market) set aside for femtocells. While they may want these inside customer homes, the real application will be to cover entire building complexes or even neighborhoods.
Perhaps in return, Sprint/Clearwire/Xohm users will be able to roam on the Comcast femtocells without having to setup a separate account. And those with a Comcast account can roam as well.
If cities are willing to spend bucks to get into muniWiFi, they may as well offer free rent to WiMAX carriers to place WiMAX repeaters/femtocells on city streetlight poles. |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Matt
Re: Good idea
said by Matt :Imagine grabbing your WiMAX laptop or phone handset and seamlessly going from home to the store, the mall, etc. While you can do that now with HSDPA/EVDO, the speeds and latency are terrible. WiMAX would allow any handset manufacturer to include a VoIP app for instance ... If I'm driving to the store or mall, I won't be seamlessly using a laptop. As for my phone handset, I can already do that with my cellphone. Just as I don't see the huge draw of cellular femtocells in residences, I don't see WiMax femtocells being a huge necessity. Maybe I'll be wrong, or maybe I'm misunderstanding how Comcast (and other providers) are planning to employ femtocell technology. |
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wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable
·BroadVoice
1 edit | reply to funchords
Re: I don't see the Vision
said by funchords :What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network? According to the article, Comcast has heavily invested in the new Sprint/Clearwire endeavor. What this will allow then to do is offer a Comcast branded wireless service to their customers. Since the service operates in the 2.5 Ghz range, it will experience similar building penetration issues that wifi has. By providing their customers with a femtocell, Comcast customers will be able to roam on the Comcast (really Sprint/Clearwire) 4G network seamlessly. This will benefit those users who will have branded phones and laptop cards, as the service will work everywhere they go.
EDIT: It appears that Comcast also might offer the femtocells in the 5GHz spectrum, and then soley use their cable network for the backhaul. This would mean however, that the cards/devices used would need to be dual mode (2.5/5) in order to roam seamlessly.
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If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.
-Ronald Reagan-
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jt4
@comcast.net | reply to Matt
Re: Good idea
comcast put over a billion dollars for clearwire |
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funchords
Hello
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Washington, DC
·Verizon Online DSL
·Skype
1 edit | said by jt4 :
comcast put over a billion dollars for clearwire
Less than two weeks of revenue, less than one percent of total assets.
Of course, Comcast likes to degrade and block anything less than 1 percent. (snark, snark)     
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Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
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wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY
·Verizon FIOS
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·RoadRunner Cable
·BroadVoice
| reply to xenophon
Re: I don't see the Vision
said by xenophon :What Comcast might do though is setup these WiMAX repeaters on top of apartment/condo buildings so that they don't have to wire up every unit. They can't do that with WiFi as reliably today for large buildings. They could even cover entire neighborhoods with one repeater. And then you could have a WiMAX/WiFi router to cover all your devices. I dont think Comcast will do any kind of equipment/antenna placements on building. Since they invested in Sprint/Clearwire, they will only (as of now at least) be doing resale. By providing femtocells to their end users, they can give them a seamless experience both in their homes (via the Comcast femtocell) and outside (via the Sprint/Clearwire network).
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If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.
-Ronald Reagan-
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Tigerpaw509
Premium
join:2006-07-15
Huntley, IL | reply to Matt
Re: Good idea
You hit the nail on the head,they are just resellers.Why buy from a reseller when you can get it without them stuck in the middle |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| reply to funchords
Re: I don't see the Vision
said by funchords :What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network? Lets see.. for starters, distance. Take a wifi card, walk away from the router and see how far you get. Now, do it with wimax. We are talking miles. Once the network is over lapped, well, I think you get it. |
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WTJ
join:2004-01-30
Anchorage, AK
| Don't wish to be off-topic, but...................
I was amazed when Comcast got burnt for "packet shaping", or whatever bandwidth interference they were discovered doing and no one else seemed to be accused of the same.
Before I signed up for Clearwire up here in Anchorage a few years ago, I made it very CLEAR to the salesman that I downloaded large files on a regular basis, including movies,
and did not want any download limitations.
He assured me that I would have UNLIMITED downloads.
I was impressed by the browsing speed and connected to Easynews.
I selected about 800MB of binaries from a popular newsgroup and left for work with Agent downloading.
8 hours later I came home and found my connection chugging along at 28k with barely anything downloaded.
I shut everything down, rebooted, restarted agent, and tried a different NG and just a few meg of smaller binary files.
Again my connection slowed to a crawl.
Clearwire was obviously limiting my download of binaries,
because I had no trouble downloading PFD's Docs or browsing complicated websites.
I went thru hell trying to cancel although I was well within their 5 day trial limit.
They continued to charge my CC for two more months and didn't return the funds until my second complaint to my CC company.
Now you tell me Clearwire has a Comcast association?
Looks like Comcast found a fellow rat to circumvent the FCC.
Am I wrong here?
BTW: Does anyone know how I can get the "Clearwire" under my userID removed?
I use GCI, I've reported speeds for GCI several times,
and sent an email to the DSL powers that be trying to change it,
but,
they either obfuscated or didn't understand me and I said "to hell with it."
However, I REALLY REALLY dislike that ISP and can't stand the association! |
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