ctia wireless 2007 report

8/14/2019 CTIA Wireless 2007 Report

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CTIA Wireless 2007 Report

Ways of wirelessly getting online

By Eddie Hines

Need to go to a certain website for research? Sports scores? Looking for a place to

eat? Today there are many things you need and want that are located online. But

what if you are not at home using your DSL or Cable modem connection? We will

show you all the ways you can now get online wirelessly, either through your cell

phone, PDA, or laptop computer. In the future, this will be the mainstream way all

of America will get online.

CELL PHONESIn the cellular phone universe there are several technologies and many different

speeds available to get online. Lets look at the main three.

Global System for Mobile Communication, or GSM, wasdeveloped for worldwide communications. The three speeds used by consumers

today is 2G, 2.5G and 3G. Prices for customers to use this technology on their cell

phones or PDA averages to about $20 for T-Mobile customers, and $45 for AT&T

customers. Lets take a look in more detail of the three speeds available today.

2G, or GPRS (Global Package Radio Service), give you connection speeds of

40kbps, which is a little bit slower than a 56k modem. Companies in America that

use this speed are T-Mobile and AT&T (formally Cingular). A majority of the

continental US has this speed available but certain areas have been privileged to

support higher speeds. The advantage though of using this speed is increased

battery life.

2.5G or EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) is the next level of

speed in wireless data. It can support speeds of up to 384 kbps, which are light

years faster than GPRS ever could go. Currently this speed is available in about 70%

of the country and is supported by both T-Mobile and AT&T.

3G, or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System),is the next step

which is currently being implemented on the AT&T network. Although the speeds

could be more comparable with EDGE speeds, it has the capability to kick into
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GSMLogo.jpg


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overdrive, supporting speeds up to 3.6 Mbps downstream. This then gives your

cell phone or PDA the power to not only download email and websites and amazing

speeds, but now you can really do video conferencing, music downloads, and other

pieces of data that would have taken hours using an older technology. Currently,

only 6 cities support UMTS so contact your local AT&T store for availability in your

area.

Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA. In the US, there isanother technology that only exist in 83 other countries besides the US. Its called

Code Division Multiple Access, or CDMA, that although not as portable as GSM

technology, is quite ahead of them when it comes to speed. The national companies

in America that support this technology currently are Alltel, Verizon and Sprint. The

cost of unlimited usage of this technology averages to about $45 a month. Lets

take a look at 2 of their speeds.

2.5G or 1xRt (1 times Radio Transmission Technology) is the main speed of all

CDMA2000 compatible phones and PDAs It is available to a majority of the country

and can support speeds of up to 384kbps. Using this speed, users can download

large emails and browse the web comfortably, but still unable to stream video or

music.

3G, or EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized), is the true 3G product that supports

up to 1.5 Mbps, which allows companies like Verizon to implement their V-Cast

service, allowing customers to stream music videos, purchase and listen to music

online, watch live TV, and enjoy video conferencing.

IDEN, or Integrated Systems Enhanced Networkis a 2Gtechnology only used now in the Sprint Nextel Corporation. This technology was

famous for its walkie-talkie feature which was only available on this network until

about a year ago. Because of the Sprint Nextel merger, this technology is being

phased out, allowing users of these phones to integrate into Sprints CDMA network.

Laptops


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Laptops today have more options available to them to get online and much higher

speeds then a cell phone signal. And although you can use a PC data card to use

each service mentioned earlier, here are 2 technologies that only laptops and PDAs

will have access to in the near future.

Wireless Fidelity, or Wi-Fi is a technology that allows a user to connect itself

without wires to a close-by remote location. If the remote location, or router, allows

permission to access its resources, then the laptop, PDA or portable device can

essentially log on to that router and share any resource it has received permission

to access, including internet access. The internet speed is pre determined by both

the overall speed of the internet connection the router is receiving, and the wireless

signal speed that it is transmitting. However, the more PCs you have sharing the

network, the slower each users experience will be. Having that in mind, choose your

speed based upon the number of computers you feel will share the connection

simultaneously. The cost to access this router is determined by either the company

leasing the wireless signal, or the home that you are in that is sending off the signal.

And for security purposes a lot of users will ask for security credentials before

allowing access to their wireless network. Lets take a look at the 3 main speeds of

wireless connections.

802.11B

The first speed that was available to the public was 802.11B. 802.xx is atechnology associated with a network protocol. The .11 signifies the Wi-Fi standard

and must be ratified worldwide before it can be used. Now the b indicates the

overall speed and range of the product. Max speeds for b was 11 Mbps and a

range of 300 square feet. Now the illusion people had was that if the speed of this

technology was 11 MBPS then the internet speed would be as fast. Sorry folks, but

the router is limited in internet speed to the fastest speed of the internet, which now

tops off only at 8 MBPS using a cable modem. However if you were to transfer data

from one pc to another using wireless, then you will see the speed increase in the

transfer.

802.11G

The second speed boost came in 2003 in the form of the letter g which indicated

top transfer speeds of 54 MBps. This protocol however advanced in many other

ways. Using new discoveries in Wi-Fi, scientists have discovered ways to increase

not only the range, or cloud these signals produces, but enhance the security

features as well.


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The 2 offspring of g are SRX and MIMO. SRX allows the range of the cloud to

double in size in all directions, using multiple antennas. MIMO (Multiple in Multiple

Out), boost the strength of the signal as well, but allows the overall speed of the

router to double to 108 MBps. This technology is mainly used in homes that

transfer very large data files, like videos or email attachments, but it is also used in

the consumer electronics realm for Tivo and Slingbox to stream TV data to othercomputers in your home or a mobile device. Along with easier security

implementations and setup, this has replaced the original g product for everyday

home or office use.

802.11N

The third and newest boost became standardized in 2007. Busing on SRX and MIMO

technology, n can now create speeds topping 648 Mbps and ranges up to 2400

square feet. Now the n can do something the previous router could not, be

neighbor friendly. Using this setting the router looks for other signals and adjusts its

total range to not how all the bandwidth of your neighbors routers. This router isthe ideal choice for Voice over IP applications as well as neighborhood-wide Wireless

clouds. Many companies and cities are investing into this to create the first in its

kind city Wi-Fi clouds.

WiMAX is a wireless digital communications system, also known as IEEE 802.16,

which is intended for wireless "metropolitan area networks". WiMAX can provide

broadband wireless access (BWA) up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 -

10 miles (5 - 15 km) for mobile stations. In contrast, the Wi-Fi/802.11 wireless local

area network standard is limited in most cases to only 100 - 300 feet (30 - 100m).

With WiMAX, WI-Fi like data rates are easily supported, but the issue of interference

is lessened. WiMAX operates on both licensed and non-licensed frequencies,

providing a regulated environment and viable economic model for wireless carriers.

Driven by Intel and Sprint, City Wide implantation of this new signal will begin first

in Washington DC then go across the country in the next few years. With Wi-Maxyou will need a different PC card to reach this signal. At the CTIA Wireless 2007

conference, many companies showed future products that will take advantage of

this signal, but dont look for this to happen anytime soon. Expect an access fee to

log on and use this resource, as well as issues to come up until this is perfected.

Using this technology will move us closer toward VoIP usage over standard

telephone or wireless lines and will be more cost efficient to create rather than

using multiple Wi-Fi routers to generate the same signal.
http://www.wimaxforum.org/


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How will you log on now?

All of these technologies open the door for greater uses of our mobile devices. The

main factor for you will be cost and frequency of use. IF you know you will use yourGSM data connection more than using your wireless card in your laptop (you are not

near any Wi-Fi clouds), then invest in an unlimited GSM plan for your area and pay

for Wi-Fi when it is available. However if you know you are in a W-Fi cloud

frequently, then you may not need to pay AT&T or Verizon for their all you can eat

internet. Whatever your choice, be thankful the days of slow dialup speeds for your

mobile devices are over!

ctia wireless 2007 report

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