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Q&A: Difference between wireless and WiMax

By on December 04 2006

Q: What is the difference between normal wireless and WiMax? Or is it the same product labelled differently?

Answered by Phil Verity, Mazars

The basic difference between “normal wireless” or Wi-Fi and WiMAX is that they’re different radio technologies that enable the delivery of high-speed internet access.

Wi-Fi is a relatively mature technology, with equipment widely available for both domestic and office use. In addition, there are thousand of hotspots around the UK, offering wireless access in hotels, coffee shops and airports.

WiMAX on the other hand is a very new technology, with very few services available in the UK. It offers higher bandwidth services over a longer range, compared with Wi-Fi. This means that when it becomes more mainstream, WiMAX is expected to give faster internet over a wider area.

Phil Verity is a partner at Mazars, the international accounting and business advisory firm, and head of the mid corporate market business line.

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Comment by Lyn Cecil at 2:19pm, 13 May 2008

When an ill advised worker bored a hole in Brook Street outside Claridges Hotel on the 5th February this year, he unwittingly cut off 3200 lines leaving us and many other West End companies without phones, fax, email or internet access. We were obviously cheered to hear that BT hoped to have full service resumed by the 25th February, just 3 weeks later. Just as we were contemplating moving all our staff over to the City to a disaster recovery suite, we were offered the opportunity to switch to WiMax, so now have an aerial on the roof beamed at the Hilton. The best thing I can say about it is that once we had switched over we noticed absolutely no difference.At least we are braced for the next workman digging a hole!! (Last year we suffered 3 power cuts for that very reason, so when the West End darkens at some point in the next week, that is just us switching on our heavy duty batteries)