@Big Al
What? Being known as the town that had not one, but two football teams walk out on you isn't good enough?

5G is better!

I though OG was better?

Wait, what?

@avester:

But WiMAX is 4G connectivity...

Ok, have fun playing with your 3G. I, on the other hand, will wait for WiMax (or switch over from 3G when available). With a $35 maximum data plan, I could buy that and then just install Skype on my WiMax enabled PDA (will probably be out very soon) and pay the $35 for the service and ~$5 per month for the incoming and outgoing Skype services... Assuming WiMax could pinpoint your location for WE911 purposes.

WiMAX is actually a part of "IMT-2000", which is what everyone in the mobile industry accepts as "3G" technology. People like to throw around the "4G" term, but it hasn't been defined yet by the ITU. Even LTE is applying for official recognition as a part of "IMT-2000".

Off topic, when I tell most of my friends in Korea I'm from Baltimore, most of say, "Oh! Isn't that the place in 'Hairspray'?" Now, I can tell them, "Yes... but it's also home to Sprint's first XOHM network." Of course, then they'll ask me "What's XOHM?", but it's better than just having my hometown recognized from a musical...

Why is 4G any better than 3G, WCDMA gives 7,2mb/s and it's quite good for most people

Do we need 2 crappy networks that need different aircards/handsets and 2 payments to 2 companies?

1 good network that would work anywhere woule be a lot better.

And cheaper.

Because wimax is 70mbps? It is the future. Why didnt we just stay at 2G with gprs then?

WiMax is considered 4G only b/c of its speed (significantly faster than EV-DO and HSUPA) not b/c of the standard. It was basically Wifi with unbelievable range (something like 30miles and it is suppose to penetrate buildings better).
I think they are too slow getting this thing out. I thought the cost/range was an advantage, but that is yet to be seen, and I think Sprint has taken so long b/c of costs. LOL

@ avester -

3G - http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3504_7-5664933-1.html

4G - http://www2.nortel.com/go/solution_content.jsp?segId=0&catId=0&parId=0&prod_id=61702

"4G mobile broadband provides improved performance, lower total cost of ownership and enables a new era of personalized services. 4G networks are IP-based and flatter with fewer nodes to manage. The benefits are significant and can make 4G mobile broadband a truly disruptive technology providing service providers a cost-effective way to deploy next generation technology and services and redefining the end-user experience."


It's like comparing apples to seeds.

I suggest you start reading because there is a big difference idiot.

@ xman

Exactly, Wimax transmits a signal similar to the way Wifi transmits it's signal, it's like Wifi on roids. Other than being much-much faster and a much larger range, Wimax use a Microwave signal that reaches 30 miles as you said. I believe that signal is achieved by one base station, that gives you an idea of how strong Wimax is.

Notably so - and with low cost contract-free entry points, it seems like when it reaches around my parts, I'd be remiss if I didn't give it a try.

The joy of having more than 7.2mb/s...

Just to get capped to 1gb/mo.

Thank you greedy operators!

I'm going to tell you one word, just one word. Are you listening? Latency

I'm glad you brought up the "L" word. I love that I can tether, but when I do so I'm usually playing online games. So I don't need much in terms of speed, but I'd like to have sub-300ms latency to the game server - which I typically have no problem getting when on a wired connection.

I'm lucky to get 600 using the phone, and at times it can sit at 1200. When it gets that high, even surfing can get annoying. Is latency on a WiMax connection supposed to be better?

People from Baltimore need something to distract them from the disaster that is Peter Angelos' reign as owner of the O's...

Big Al it's called the Baltimore Ravens...haven't had to care about the O's for years now.

There is a distraction.....the Washington Nationals! Its especially great when they play against each other :D

Of course we can!

"Show me all the slides you want, but I'm not buying any of your crappy hair care products. They clearly don't work!"

"ok, now type: g-o-a-t-s-e-dot.........."

"WoW! This WiMax works great when I plug my cat-5 cable directly into the tower. But is that the way it is supposed to work?"

Yeah but most of use get by with the $20 package for 3G. Charging more for mobile access is really unnecessary.

That's why Baltimore isn't the only test market. The other test markets are Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. with Boston, Philadelphia, and Dallas to follow.

@ Laurel:
Yeah, I thought Chicago was like THE test market. A year ago, almost to the day, they did a live test. The Engadget post said we could expect a soft launch in late '07 and a live date of April 08.

You need to take that shit somewhere else. Baltimore has some VERY nice areas, and nice, wealthy suburbs.
The downtown by the water is getting very nice, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, 700k condos, new Gucci store coming.
Bmore's much nicer than Philly. And, you know DC used to be a big ass ghetto too like 15 yrs ago.
Any major city on the East Coast has all the potential in the world to redevelop. And, Baltimore's doing it.
Where the hell are you from jackass?