In practical terms, WiMAX operates in a similar manner to Wi-Fi but at higher speeds, over greater distances and for a greater number of users. WiMAX could potentially erase the suburban and rural blackout areas that currently have no broadband Internet access because phone and cable companies have not yet run the necessary wires to those remote locations.

A WiMAX system consists of two parts, a WiMAX tower, similar in concept to a cell-phone tower and a WiMAX receiver. The receiver and antenna can be a small box or PCMCIA card, or they can be built into the circuitry of a laptop.

A WiMAX tower station can connect directly to the Internet using a high-bandwidth, wired connection. It can also connect to another WiMAX tower using a point-to-point, microwave link. This connection to a second tower (often referred to as a backhaul), along with the ability of a single tower to cover up to 1,000 square miles, is what allows WiMAX to provide coverage to remote rural areas.

WiMAX can actually provide two forms of wireless service, the "mobile access", Wi-Fi sort of service, where a small antenna on your computer connects to the tower. In this mode, WiMAX uses a lower frequency range - 2 GHz to 11 GHz (similar to Wi-Fi).

The second option is "point-to-point" service, where a fixed dish antenna points straight at the WiMAX tower from a rooftop or pole. The line-of-sight connection is stronger and more stable, so it's able to send a lot of data with fewer errors.

To read more about Galtronics' WiMAX solutions click here.