Sunday, February 27, 2011

Wireless Internet Terms That Informed Consumers Should Know About

Knowing the appropriate vocabulary is half the battle of understanding anything new. For example, you can't really become a doctor unless you know the common terms related to the medical field. The same applies to internet connections as well. If you want to get a good grasp on wireless internet connectivity, you're going to have to familiarize yourself with some of the terms related to it.

The first term you should know about is Wifi. It's a home networking solution that allows you to forgo the use of wires within a few hundred feet of a wireless router. If it had a lot more range than that it might be considered a good solution, but as it stands now a city will have to use dozens of routers in order to blanket the area with coverage. You probably wouldn't be able to travel around without being disconnected at some point, which makes this a less than desirable solution.

Most people would rather have a cellular connection instead because it's just as fast but it works over a much larger area. Two terms that you should know about are 3G and 4G. 3G is the third generation of cellular connectivity that goes beyond just being useful for cell phone voice calls. It allows for cell phone technology to be used for internet connectivity too. Unfortunately, it's not all that fast. The next generation is plenty fast though and was designed from the ground up to be a broadband internet connection that you can use all throughout your city. In fact, 4G attains transfer speeds of around 6 megabits per second, making it faster than many standard installations of cable and DSL.

When it comes to the latest in cellular internet connectivity, you have to be aware of several terms that make up the competing industry standards. The first is HSPA+. Unlike the other options, this one is built on the older 3G network, though that doesn't seem to have a big impact on its performance. It can achieve fairly impressive transfer rates now, but who knows how long that will last considering that it's build on older technology. Another player is known as Wimax. Unlike HSPA+ it is actually based on next generation technology. In addition, it currently enjoys widespread coverage and the other standards are probably envious of that. Finally, there is Long Term Evolution or LTE. This standard is also based on next generation technology but it's a bit wet behind the ears, so to speak. It too achieves impressive transfer rates, but because it's relatively new you should probably choose a different option. After all, it's not usually a good idea to be the guinea pig for a product.

Now that you know a few terms, you can draw a few conclusions. First of all, your best choice is not going to be Wifi. On the contrary, you should choose a cellular internet solution. Of the three that are available to you, Wimax makes the most sense because it's fast and has been around longer. As an informed consumer, that option would definitely be your best bet.


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