Motorola outs CPEi 100 WiMAX desktop modem

DVB-H isn't the only emerging wireless standard Motorola is getting itself mixed up in, WiMAX is getting the "plug-and-play" treatment with the new CPEi 100 desktop modem Moto is bringing to CES. The device features a single port for sending the wireless data into your wired network, and naturally operates on the 2.5GHz WiMAX band. CPEi 100 will be available in 2008 from various WiMAX operators, and consumers should be able to set it up all by their lonesomes -- which means fewer of those pesky visits from the cable guy.

[albi @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:39AM]

I got my parents one of these boxes, (maybe not the exact model, but the same shaped moto box) from rogers, over 50 buxx a month for just 1.5M, all because none of the cable or bell had wired signal to their house. rogers says there is a limit of 20 GB per month but the last time i called them, they said that their system isn't fully equipped yet to actually calculate how much we've downloaded, so we got like unlimited dl.
but still, for 50$, it's freakin expensive.

[David @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:46AM]

Huh? This looks just like the NextNet wireless modems o,o

[Abhorrent @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:16AM]

Nextnet was given to Motorola in trade for funding Clearwire earlier on... so same CPE casing with the Motorola logo and different guts for WiMax.

[CB @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:28AM]

Help me here, does this thing have full Wimax range?
I mean could you stick on your roof and get a signal 10 miles away?
Or have some one hack your encryption from 6 blocks down?

[Big Sam @ Jan 3rd 2008 1:33PM]

Its a WiMAX receiver, not transmitter. You hook it up to your home router like you would hook up your cable modem.

[dziban303 @ Feb 7th 2008 5:09PM]

Of course its a transmitter. How else is the upstream signal supposed to get to the base station? Its also a receiver. Thus, a transceiver.

[Geoff @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:30AM]

Clearwire modem.

[Brian Aker @ Jan 3rd 2008 1:35PM]

Hi!

Clearwire gave these out. Either these things have a pathetic range in most natural settings, or Clearwire stinks.

Cheers,
-Brian

[dziban303 @ Feb 7th 2008 5:11PM]

Its the same case as the Clearwire modem, but Clearwire doesn't use WiMax at the moment, they use a proprietary system called Expedience. Once they do the changeover to WiMax, whenever that'll be, this is the modem people will get. They had plans for a dual-mode Expedience/WiMax modem for use during the transition.

[TIMMAH! @ Jan 3rd 2008 5:59PM]

How hard and expensive is it going to be to get a Wimax router?

[skulldriveshaft @ Jan 5th 2008 3:47AM]

you plug your regular a/b/g/n router into it

there's people outside of cities still using dial-up (very few) but atleast this would allow for more interesting mesh networks :]

carriers have to start pumping those profits back into wireless systems - it's just easier to replace, reprogram, reset over the air instead of dispatching a tech. So we're going to have unemployed wiring guys in the next 10 years :[

[TIMMAH! @ Jan 5th 2008 12:21PM]

No what I meant was, suppose I wanted to run Wimax outta my house. Are the carriers going to be able to keep Wimax routers from being sold to the general public, or are they just going to be prohibitively expensive.

[dziban303 @ Feb 7th 2008 5:13PM]

The WiMax equipment is expensive and big, for a commercial base station anyway. Its costly enough to be unpractical for home use. For now, anyway.

[wimaxed @ Jan 23rd 2008 10:13PM]

You will probably have to authenticate to connect to a WiMAX carrier something similar like the DSL connection to the ATT for example. Or they might have the authentication hard-coded in the device so you can't move the box from one carrier to another. I'm pretty sure there are methods to protect the networks.

--- http://www.WiMAXed.com