Imagine cable and DSL internet connections connected wirelessly through cellular communications, that is mobile broadband. Though wireless internet has been available in many forms for a while now, it has only recently been becoming a popular alternative to WiFi. Mobile broadband is a step up from local wireless data applications such as WiFi which gets rid of the wire, but not the confinement. A user must be stationary and in a WiFi hotspot (generally inside) when using WiFi technology. WiFi could be considered as the data transfer counterpart of the cordless telephone, whereas mobile broadband corresponds to the cellular phone, which enables access to high speed data almost anywhere in the world. The recent improvements in mobile broadband technology has meant that businesses can communicate with their employees and customers much more efficiently and effectively that ever before, changing the business environment quite drastically. Wireless broadband is shaping the business world.

Mobile broadband technology such as 3g is powered by the same technology that makes cell phones work. It is all down to radio waves and their frequencies. Mobile phones and the mobile-phone radio towers communicate with each other by sending packets of digital information to each other through radio waves. With standard telephone calls, the packets of information carry only voice or audio data. For mobile broadband, the packets of information would be other types of data such as e-mails, web pages, streaming video and music files.

There are a few different types of mobile broadband, which can make life confusing. Below is a list detailing them:

-2.5g, or EDGE as it is more widely known, was the first form of mobile broadband, though take up was low as the packet transfer speeds were so low.

-3g was the second development of mobile broadband. The increased speeds meant that it was a viable option if users were unable to find a suitable WiFi hotspot.

-The third format to be introduced was HSDPA. Though it was faster than EDGE and 3g, it was still no match for a good WiFi connection

-The latest standard is HSUPA. HSUPA can give users mobile broadband speeds almost equal to WiFi and has a good coverage ratio.

A new format that is currently being developed is called WIMAX. WIMAX, or 4g, will be able to give users broadband connection speeds faster than the WiFi speeds currently offered in popular hotspots. It will also have a very wide network coverage ratio, which means more people being able to access the internet from more places. It is becoming commonplace for laptop manufacturers to incorporate mobile broadband receivers into the design of new notebooks, and with the huge increase in speeds of mobile broadband over the last few years; internet via cable may become a thing of the past.


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