Building Wireless Community Networks with 802.16 Standard K. Sibanda, H.N. Muyingi and N. Mabanza University of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700 Computer Science Department ksibanda@ufh.ac.za , hmuying@ufh.ac.za , nmabanza@ufh.ac.za Tel: +27 40 602 2464 +27 40 602 2230, Fax: +27 40 602 2464 Cell: +27 720 713 064 +27 82703922 Abstract— Network deployment in rural areas of developing nations is a challenge to social conscience and technical capability and affordability. Because most rural areas have no copper telecommunication legacy, they can leapfrog to using wireless technologies. These technologies allow "bypassing stages in capacity building or investment through which countries were previously required to pass during the process of economic development [11]." In this work we discuss challenges of deploying broadband networks in rural areas. WiMAX technology is presented as a technology that can now provide broadband connectivity in developing regions. We further discuss Dwesa (SA) communication network which used WiMAX technology to provide internet connectivity to a rural community in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Keywords—WiMAX, Rural Areas, Connectivity, Technologies I. INTRODUCTION Wireless infrastructure growth can play a pivotal role in economic growth and poverty reduction in rural communities. It can also enhance social equity in terms of health security, access to information, and improved education. However, the reality is that extending network coverage to rural regions remains a big challenge. Two wireless technologies, the 802.11 and the 802.16 standards, popularly referred to as WiFi and WiMAX respectively have emerged as low cost technologies to deploy networks in remote communities. This has seen also a lot of debate on which technology provides the lowest cost. The two should be considered as complementary and not competing. WiFi technology was originally designed for LANs, hence a number of challenges still limit its efficient deployment for WANs. Some of those challenges include small coverage area and low data rates as revealed in table 1. It is shown in table 1 that WiMAX can cover larger areas measured in km while WiFi can cover smaller areas measured in m. WiMAX is scalable and can use all available frequencies making it adaptable to any environment. The 802.16 standard addresses all limitations of WiFi and can make high end wireless a reality [3]. According to Lopez et al. [6] the right selection of the wireless solution is determined by the technological capacity, range, noise immunity, noise emission, security, setup and running costs, power consumption, free versus licensed operation, regulations, compatibility with hazardous environment, fault tolerance, technological availability, commercial availability and QoS. Table 1: WiMAX versus WiFi WiMAX WiFi Technical Differences Range Up to 30 miles typical cell size of 4-6 miles Sub-300 feet 802.16 tolerates greater multi-path, delay spread via implementation of 256 FFT vs. 64FFT for 802.11 Coverage Outdoor NLOS- performance standard support for advanced antenna techniques Optimised for indoor performance, short range 802.16 systems have an overall higher system gain, delivering greater penetration through obstacles at longer distances Scalability Designed to support hundreds of CPEs, with unlimited subscribers behind each CPE Intended for LAN applications, users scale from one to tens with one subscriber for each CPE device 802.16 can use all available frequencies, multiple channels support cellular deployment, 802.11 is limited to license exempt spectrum Bit Rate 5bps/Hz peak up to 100Mbp/s in 20 MHz channel 2.7 bps/Hz peak up to 54Mbp/s in 20MHz channel Higher modulations coupled with flexible error correction results in more efficient use of spectrum For the purposes of our work, we discuss capacity, range, setup and running costs, free versus licensed operation and technological availability, however, works on noise immunity can be found in [9], noise emission is discussed in [1]. There are vast sources which deal with security issues including [5]. Third International Conference on Broadband Communications, Information Technology & Biomedical Applications 978-0-7695-3453-4/08 $25.00 © 2008 IEEE DOI 10.1109/BROADCOM.2008.55 384