Well, I was kind of curious myself so I clicked on the thread. Based purely on the lack of response I'd say that either no one else can explain it or the subject is far too mundane to even warrant a response.
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See Bio for signature line........political correctness and insecure people are such a pain-in-the-ass.
If you're wondering why more than two machines can communicate at what appears to be the same time, they don't. One talks, the others listen. When the one talking shuts up another one starts. How does that work? Prior to opening it's mouth, a computer listens. If it hears nothing it says whatever it wants to. Since only microseconds pass between the time one listens, hears nothing and begins to speak, two don't start talking at once as often as one might think.
Just in case they do, there is 'collision detect fall back' meaning they also listen as they speak and if they hear someone other than themselves they shut up, wait for a time and try again. Because of imperfections in electronic devices and because they deliberately use primitive timers for the waiting time, the odds of both starting up again at exactly the same time are negligible.
This works the same way as the 'old fashioned' coaxial ethernet and, like that medium, traffic speeds may be limited when there are multiple machines trying to talk. If it's just a home network with your desktop and laptop, the only thing that'll bottleneck you is the kid(s) playing games, downloading all the CD's ever made or watching movies.
There is WiFi and then there is WiMAX. Sprint just bought WiMAX and is in the process of deployment. The practical difference is range. About 100 feet for WiFi. About 3 miles for WiMAX.
This is a broad question that I have also been trying to conjure a way to ask. I think, though, that you would need to specify your "role" in the question. For example, I am located where I have no access to broadband connection, wired or wireless--the latter because it would be cost prohibitive to connect wirelessly to a network--and I'd still need to connect by dial up for the uplink part of the transmission. So, since the nearby area will be urbanizing in the next few years, I am considering hosting a wireless network and signing up subscribers living within about a mile of my location--thus bypassing the big-name high-speed services and using subscription fees to fund set up and operation. For that I will need to know what equipment will best serve my purposes, and how to go about procuring the airtime/uplink and landline services required. Links or URL's to informative resources will also be appreciated.
Apparently not
