Internet access for companies has traditionally been provided through special phone company circuits called T1s (or E1s). But local exchange companies (LEC's) have traditionally held service monopolies in their markets and as a result, T1/E1 service had no competition … if you wanted high-speed Internet access, you had to pay the high monthly T1 lease fees. However, competition in the phone industry has been established and as a result, competing ISPs, CLECs, WISPs, etc. have been deploying their own networks (including wireless portions) from which to offer data networking services such as high-speed access as well as plain old telephone service (POTS).

As you can see, there are several markets to be served by the Wireless Internet Service Provider industry (WISP). No one product can serve all the myriad of applications and as a result, there are now several wireless technologies to choose from. These technologies fall into two categories: standard technologies such as 802.11 (WiFi) and 802.16 (WiMax) and proprietary technologies. Each technology has its own advantages and disadvantages. But this is not the only way to distinguish wireless technologies. Other technology differences have to deal with whether the technology is point-to-point (PTP), point-to-multipoint (PMP), or something else (ex: mesh). Each of these faces differing regulatory requirements and serves different purposes.

Point to Point Technologies: Data Backhauls

PTP technologies are useful for serving as data backhauls that serve distribution systems (xDSL, cable modems, etc) and for connecting private data networks (ex: office buildings). PMP technologies are useful as distribution systems since more than one "end point" (customer premise) is served by a single "start point" (base station).

Another key difference in wireless technologies is the geographic distance they are to serve. The term "hot spot" (referring to a small geographical area of coverage … for example, a coffee house) has entered into the standard terminology of the wireless data networking industry. But equipment useful for hot spot coverage will not accommodate the needs of the "last mile" application. A bit of a misnomer, the "last mile" has progressed to mean anything from the "last 50 meters/feet" to the "last 20 miles".

Point-to-point (PTP) RF data networking refers to the use of wireless (RF) technologies to create a data link between two … exactly two … locations. PTP wireless data networks tend to require high data throughput over long distances.

PTP is different from point-to-multipoint (PMP) in two key ways. First, PMP has more than two locations. Second, because there are more than two locations all sharing the same access media (the RF channel), the control and use of the RF channel becomes more complex.

Even within the "unlicensed" RF spectrum, there are still regulatory requirements placed on the RF equipment. These regulatory requirements are typically different for PTP products than for PMP (sometimes very different). Most typically, these regulatory requirements deal with limiting the strength of the RF transmission. Just to make things more complicated, these restrictions are often placed on the RF equipment itself (TX power) and also on the combined affect of the RF equipment and the RF antenna (EIRP). PTP regulatory limits are typically higher than those for PMP products.

Wireless PTP data links typically do not require much in the way of network services. As a result, PTP devices typically operate as simple (Ethernet) bridges and leave services such as routing and traffic policing to the networks they are connecting. In a sense, a PTP wireless link becomes an invisible "cable" joining two data network devices. Without wireless technology, distances of over 100 meters typically must be served by wide area networks (WAN) technologies such as T1/E1 and Fiber. However, wireless data networking allows for local area network (LAN) technologies such as 10-BaseT to be used. These technologies are not only less expensive but they are more readily available as well … just about every computer now has an Ethernet network interface (NIC) port. This means that computers can be directly connected to each other using wireless PTP technology even if they are separated by many miles/kilometers.

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