New metro wireless standards set

New metro wireless standards set

A new broadband standard has been set that could provide wireless Internet service to laptop computers.

Called 802.16 (similar to 802.11 Wi-Fi technology), the new service will allow broadband wireless metropolitan networks (MANs), which could cover an entire city or metropolitan region.

The standard was approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the industry governing body responsible for creating Internet standards.

Current Wi-Fi wireless technology is limited to local area networks and has a reach of about 300 yards. The new standards enables service between two and 30 miles per hub depending on a location’s topography.

Proponents say this new standard could usher in a new era of Internet usage for mobile devices such as laptop computers and wireless telephones.

“It closes the first-mile gap, giving users an easily installable, wire-free method to access core networks for multimedia applications,” says Roger Marks, chairman of Denver-based 802.16 Working Group on Wireless Broadband Access.