Internet Access through Cell Phones in the U.S. Investigated

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 11/23/2005 | 05:09 PM ]

The wide availability of WiFi networks has become a substantial factor that made notebooks more appealing, which ignited growth of the whole market of mobile personal computers in general. With the help of your notebook with installed wireless local area network (WLAN) adapter, you can use the Internet virtually everywhere: office buildings, shops, restaurants, providing that they have preinstalled the WLAN network. While WiFi network bring impressive connection speeds, the availability of such networks is limited to locations with installed access points (APs). And given that there are situations when you need to have an access to the Internet without having an access point near you, other technologies are tremendously required.

Probably the only possibility to get Internet virtually from everywhere is access through cellular phone networks using GSM-Data, GPRS, EDGE or 3G technologies. PC Mechanic has completed a guide that explains what hardware should be bought to use mobile Internet and how the connection is established.

“Cellular internet access uses the cell phone network to connect. The performance is limited by the capabilities of the phone and the cell tower it is connected to. That performance could range anywhere from 14.4 kbps to 300+ kbps, but typical digital speeds are 50-120 kbps up/down. 300+ kbps is just starting to arrive in very few cities, but it is expected to continue replacing existing networks,” explained the web-site.

Generally, GSM-Data is available on virtually all GSM networks across the world, but it is slow, only about 14.4Kb/s and is practically unusable for today. Higher speeds – from 50Kb/s to about 120Kb/s – are available on GSM GPRS/EDGE networks, which is popular in European countries. Today high-speed third-generation networks (3G) are being deployed across the world using different standards, such as UMTS, CDMA or others.

The author shares his experience with using various technologies from GSM-Data to 3G in the U.S. using Sprint and Verizon providers.

• PC Mechanic: Guide to the Cellular Internet.