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story category Comcast WiMax Femtocells
Sometime in the second half of 2009
09:09AM Friday Oct 03 2008 by Karl Bode
tags: business · wireless · alternatives · cable · bundles · Comcast
It looks like once Sprint XOHM and Clearwire merge to become the new MEGA-Clearwire, Comcast has plans to release mobile WiMax-based femtocells in the second half of 2009. The devices will act to expand coverage throughout the home while routing VoIP calls over the traditional Comcast network. While Comcast PR says "we're not commenting," it's believed that the cable giant currently has a request-for-trial (RFT) issued to the femtocell vendor community. Comcast, an investor in the new Clearwire, hopes to bundle wireless broadband service with VoIP, TV and cable broadband -- an idea CEO Brian Roberts wasn't originally keen on.

Related:
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  3. Comcast Discontinues Newsgroup Service
  4. Free Cablevision Wi-Fi To Offer VoIP, Video
  5. Comcast Attacks Verizon Over HD Claims
  6. Should Cable Operators Offer Wireless?
  7. Comcast Successfully Delays Philly FiOS
  8. Cash Crunch? Cancel TV Service
Forums » Comcast WiMax Femtocells
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Matt
You can't fix stupid
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join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
·Corporate Colocation

Good idea

This is a great move for Comcast (and Time Warner who will likely follow suit soon) ... now they have a wireless option to offer. They can do voice and/or data wirelessly without having to invest billions building out a national network like Verizon and AT&T ... or implementing a hackneyed WiFi solution like Cablevision.
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openbox9

join:2004-01-26
Navarre, FL

Re: Good idea

I don't get it. How can Comcast deploy a mobile wireless solution without significant investment? Placing micro-POPs in customers' homes doesn't make a wireless network, especially if they're relying on residential capped service as the backhaul.

Matt
You can't fix stupid
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Jamestown, NC
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Re: Good idea

said by openbox9 See Profile :

I don't get it. How can Comcast deploy a mobile wireless solution without significant investment? Placing micro-POPs in customers' homes doesn't make a wireless network, especially if they're relying on residential capped service as the backhaul.
They invested heavily in Clearwire, this is just the first fruits of that investment to come out of the planning stages. They will resell Clearwire/Xohm service, which is mobile WiMAX ....

Imagine grabbing your WiMAX laptop or phone handset and seamlessly going from home to the store, the mall, etc. While you can do that now with HSDPA/EVDO, the speeds and latency are terrible. WiMAX would allow any handset manufacturer to include a VoIP app for instance ...
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openbox9

join:2004-01-26
Navarre, FL
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·Mediacom

Re: Good idea

said by Matt See Profile :

Imagine grabbing your WiMAX laptop or phone handset and seamlessly going from home to the store, the mall, etc. While you can do that now with HSDPA/EVDO, the speeds and latency are terrible. WiMAX would allow any handset manufacturer to include a VoIP app for instance ...
If I'm driving to the store or mall, I won't be seamlessly using a laptop. As for my phone handset, I can already do that with my cellphone. Just as I don't see the huge draw of cellular femtocells in residences, I don't see WiMax femtocells being a huge necessity. Maybe I'll be wrong, or maybe I'm misunderstanding how Comcast (and other providers) are planning to employ femtocell technology.
Tigerpaw509
Premium
join:2006-07-15
Huntley, IL
You hit the nail on the head,they are just resellers.Why buy from a reseller when you can get it without them stuck in the middle

jt4

@comcast.net
comcast put over a billion dollars for clearwire

funchords
Robb Topolski
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edit:
October 3rd, @11:47AM

Re: Good idea

said by jt4 :

comcast put over a billion dollars for clearwire
Less than two weeks of revenue, less than one percent of total assets.

Of course, Comcast likes to degrade and block anything less than 1 percent. (snark, snark)
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Robb Topolski
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Hillsboro, OR

I don't see the Vision

What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network?
openbox9

join:2004-01-26
Navarre, FL

Re: I don't see the Vision

Nothing much from what I'm reading, except for the need to purchase new radios for everything that you want to communicate with.
xenophon

join:2007-09-17
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edit:
October 3rd, @10:21AM

What Comcast might do though is setup these WiMAX repeaters on top of apartment/condo buildings so that they don't have to wire up every unit. They can't do that with WiFi as reliably today for large buildings. They could even cover entire neighborhoods with one repeater.

And then you could have a WiMAX/WiFi router to cover all your devices.

funchords
Robb Topolski
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Re: I don't see the Vision

said by xenophon See Profile :

What Comcast might do though is setup these WiMAX repeaters on top of apartment/condo buildings so that they don't have to wire up every unit.
Yeah, but it did say "femtocells" ... maybe that's only be half of the idea above.

If that's the case, I could see this vision as Comcast could also extend its footprint by 25 miles. It could deliver TeeVee on a Switch Digital basis (no "always on" broadcast) and still have room to spare for HSI and Phone.
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xenophon

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edit:
October 3rd, @10:49AM

Re: I don't see the Vision

I think that's what they ultimately want to do. As part of the Sprint/Clearwire deal, they specifically wanted 5Mhz (out of 100Mhz+ per market) set aside for femtocells. While they may want these inside customer homes, the real application will be to cover entire building complexes or even neighborhoods.

Perhaps in return, Sprint/Clearwire/Xohm users will be able to roam on the Comcast femtocells without having to setup a separate account. And those with a Comcast account can roam as well.

If cities are willing to spend bucks to get into muniWiFi, they may as well offer free rent to WiMAX carriers to place WiMAX repeaters/femtocells on city streetlight poles.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace

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said by xenophon See Profile :

What Comcast might do though is setup these WiMAX repeaters on top of apartment/condo buildings so that they don't have to wire up every unit. They can't do that with WiFi as reliably today for large buildings. They could even cover entire neighborhoods with one repeater.

And then you could have a WiMAX/WiFi router to cover all your devices.
I dont think Comcast will do any kind of equipment/antenna placements on building. Since they invested in Sprint/Clearwire, they will only (as of now at least) be doing resale. By providing femtocells to their end users, they can give them a seamless experience both in their homes (via the Comcast femtocell) and outside (via the Sprint/Clearwire network).
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If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.
-Ronald Reagan-

Rob
In Deo speramus
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast

said by funchords See Profile :

What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network?
Wi-fi networks operate in unlicensed spectrum, wheres femtocells do use licensed spectrum.

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace

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edit:
October 3rd, @11:08AM

said by funchords See Profile :

What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network?
According to the article, Comcast has heavily invested in the new Sprint/Clearwire endeavor. What this will allow then to do is offer a Comcast branded wireless service to their customers. Since the service operates in the 2.5 Ghz range, it will experience similar building penetration issues that wifi has. By providing their customers with a femtocell, Comcast customers will be able to roam on the Comcast (really Sprint/Clearwire) 4G network seamlessly. This will benefit those users who will have branded phones and laptop cards, as the service will work everywhere they go.

EDIT: It appears that Comcast also might offer the femtocells in the 5GHz spectrum, and then soley use their cable network for the backhaul. This would mean however, that the cards/devices used would need to be dual mode (2.5/5) in order to roam seamlessly.

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If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.
-Ronald Reagan-

tc1uscg

join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
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said by funchords See Profile :

What's the difference between this and the Wi-Fi home network?
Lets see.. for starters, distance. Take a wifi card, walk away from the router and see how far you get. Now, do it with wimax. We are talking miles. Once the network is over lapped, well, I think you get it.
WTJ

join:2004-01-30
Anchorage, AK

Don't wish to be off-topic, but...................

I was amazed when Comcast got burnt for "packet shaping", or whatever bandwidth interference they were discovered doing and no one else seemed to be accused of the same.

Before I signed up for Clearwire up here in Anchorage a few years ago, I made it very CLEAR to the salesman that I downloaded large files on a regular basis, including movies,
and did not want any download limitations.

He assured me that I would have UNLIMITED downloads.

I was impressed by the browsing speed and connected to Easynews.
I selected about 800MB of binaries from a popular newsgroup and left for work with Agent downloading.

8 hours later I came home and found my connection chugging along at 28k with barely anything downloaded.

I shut everything down, rebooted, restarted agent, and tried a different NG and just a few meg of smaller binary files.

Again my connection slowed to a crawl.

Clearwire was obviously limiting my download of binaries,
because I had no trouble downloading PFD's Docs or browsing complicated websites.

I went thru hell trying to cancel although I was well within their 5 day trial limit.
They continued to charge my CC for two more months and didn't return the funds until my second complaint to my CC company.

Now you tell me Clearwire has a Comcast association?
Looks like Comcast found a fellow rat to circumvent the FCC.

Am I wrong here?

BTW: Does anyone know how I can get the "Clearwire" under my userID removed?

I use GCI, I've reported speeds for GCI several times,
and sent an email to the DSL powers that be trying to change it,
but,
they either obfuscated or didn't understand me and I said "to hell with it."

However, I REALLY REALLY dislike that ISP and can't stand the association!
Forums » Comcast WiMax Femtocells


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