Height Advantage

[Contreramanjaro]

I'm sitting here on the fourth floor of the library next to a window with what my phone is describing as"good" WiMax signal. I am assuming it has to do with having greater building clearance because from what I understand, WiMax is garbage at getting through brick and limestone (what every building in Indiana is made of.) I'm just wondering if there are any more advantages besides clearance. Really, who knew all I had to do is climb two sets of stairs to increase my speed 20x.

 

Sent from my Evo Design 4g on a dying network.

[WiWavelength]

Guys, please be careful with your generalizations. Lately, I have noticed many "WiMAX is this, WiMAX is that" type of assertions. But most of those assertions are regarding ~2600 MHz propagation/attenuation. Signal wise, essentially nothing inherent to the WiMAX downlink makes it inferior to the LTE downlink, as both OFDMA link structures are really quite similar. So, nearly all of you are commenting on BRS/EBS 2600 MHz path loss, not on WiMAX itself, which can be deployed in almost any spectrum band.

 

AJ

[WiWavelength]

Additionally, as Robert will tell you, if you are hanging out on a WiMAX "license protection site," then electrical/mechanical downtilt (lack thereof) at the antennas will also have a great effect on propagation.

 

AJ

[Contreramanjaro]

Alright, finally home. Yes, to me, WiMax is Sprint's WiMax and whatever values that carries. I understand that something you know quite a bit about can be annoying when someone simplifies it so much but I think it's safe to say that whatever WiMax/LTE/CDMA/EvDo signal I'm talking about is the one that Sprint offers. I did not think to mention that since these are very specific Sprint forums. And really, hardly any signal pierces those old buildings especially as weak as all 4G deployments are.

 

What I was getting at really was about how directional the signal was. I know they put the antennas up facing several directions and I was just pondering if being too low would cut out signal even if buildings were less of an issue. My school, Ball State, did testing with WiMax on it's own and deployed at 2.5 Ghz and their tests had decent signal even in the depths of buildings so I'm very aware it's possible.

 

You've answered my question quite fine but I do think it's safe to say that WiMax and LTE when written simply on s4gru.com are referring to what Sprint offers unless explicitly stated otherwise. As the buildout of LTE hits full swing soon, you're going to have people a lot less knowledgable than me here.

 

edit: Not trying to be mean or disrespectful at all, I really like this community. I'm just speaking frankly.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Contreramanjaro

[S4GRU]

I don't think anyone thinks you are being disrespectful. We appreciate direct communication. Your points are understood and well received. I am glad that you understand the differences. However, someone who does not, may misinterpret your point. I appreciate AJ's post to help differentiate for anyone else who comes along in the future. The internet is forever.

 

Samuel, the Ball State WiMax sounds great. However, there are likely some key differences between the Muncie protection site and the Ball State deployment that you may not have considered.

 

1. Protection Sites, as AJ references, are designed to maximize coverage to inflate POP numbers to satisfy a FCC coverage requirement. They have zero, or very little downtilt. Those panels often stick out 90° from the towers. This is the worst way to try to get 2600 to penetrate anything. I am sure Ball State has engineered downtilt to be useful. This is also why you are getting such a great signal higher off the ground. The Muncie protection site WiMax signal is pointed at you, not the ground. I get a better signal/faster speeds from the Santa Fe protection site on a hill side 4 miles away than I do next to the tower.

 

2. Ball State likely has small cells and users are much closer to the signal. In traditional Clearwire WiMax cells that are well engineered, users within a 1/2 mile usually can receive signal indoors just fine. I imagine the Ball State WiMax network is designed where users are never more than a half mile away either.

 

3. Beamforming. Some schools that use WiMax deploy it with beamforming. This offers a penetration boost as well. I have no idea if Ball State employs this.

 

As you can see, Protection Sites are just not an apples to apples performance comparison to standard WiMax deployments. They are hastily installed, under engineered islands of WiMax signals. And their usefulness is highly variable.

 

Robert via NOVO7PALADIN Tablet using Forum Runner