As the name implies, wireless broadband delivers broadband service without using wires to connect to a home or businesses. Wireless broadband is delivered over radio frequencies through transmitters and receivers. Wireless broadband can be categorized into two basic categories: satellite and wireless networks.

Satellite Internet service is provided through the same small dishes used to deliver video services, such as DirecTV and Dish Network. Users send and receive information to the Internet via a satellite dish to a receiver on a satellite in space. The satellite retransmits the signal to and from the network operation center that is connected to the Internet. Satellite broadband service is available to nearly any location in the United States that has a clear view of the southern sky.

Recommended Resource: Satellite Signals provides links to satellite Internet providers serving the United States. Information available through this site includes installation costs, broadband service levels and broadband Internet service costs for satellite Internet service.

There are two basic types of wireless networks. The first is a small wireless local area network, commonly known as a Wi-Fi Hotspot. These networks are designed for indoor use with a broadcast range of several hundred feet and include both public and private networks. Hotspots are often deployed by businesses to provide broadband access to their employees. Hotspots are also found in many retail environments such as coffee shops to provide service for customers who use built-in wireless cards in their computer to connect to the Internet.

The second type of wireless network is a Wireless ISP (Internet Service Provider). This type of network is designed to serve very large coverage areas using a point-to-multipoint network topology and broadcasts wireless data up to 20-miles. Unlike Wi-Fi networks where the customer uses their own Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) antenna, a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) broadcasts a signal from a base station and the signal is received by a fixed wireless antenna mounted on the customer's premises. Most WISP systems are based on proprietary systems that do not allow roaming.

In between a Wi-Fi Hotspot and a WISP, there is a hybrid version of the first two systems, which is called a Neighborhood Internet Service Provider (NISP) or Wi-Fi Hotzones. Wi-Fi Hotzones use a group of access points to cover a large outdoor environment such as a neighborhood, marina, shopping mall or campground.

What advantages are provided by wireless broadband?

Wireless networks can cover wide geographic areas efficiently, providing the first available broadband service, or a competitive service, into many communities. Networks of varying sizes can be deployed in places where it would be prohibitively expensive to run wires. The lower cost of deploying wireless networks is enabling rural communities and the private sector to build out wireless broadband. Because trenches do not have to be dug, there may be less overall disruption and visual impact to communities. Wireless also has opportunities for mobile uses that other technologies do not.

Examples : Many communities such as Stevenson, Washington are also deploying hotspots in downtowns to serve tourists.

Recommended Resource: Broadband Wireless Exchange.