My G is Faster Than Your G!

The battle wages on. On TV, in newspapers and magazines, and on bill boards on the interstate you can’t miss the ads touting 4G networks. If you believe all the claims by now you must feel that if you don’t have a 4G phone you are really missing out. What you are missing other than the letter at falls between “F” and “H” in our alphabet is less than clear. It might be interesting to know that the companies that tout the 4G networks really don’t know much more than you do.

Some history will help explain what all these “Gs” really mean. Back in the dark ages of mobile phones when the smallest of the available devices was briefcase-size, they used a network dubbed “1G.” The “G” stands for generation and this mobile phone network technology was the first generation. It was developed in the early 1980s and was fine for the analog devices in service at that time. It did require phones with protruding antennas.

The 1G networks were soon replaced by 2G, the first of the digital networks. With the number of mobile phone users exploding in the USA and around the world, the old analog system just could not handle the traffic. 2G systems could accommodate 50 or more simultaneous conversations on the same frequency and allowed for smaller phones with built in antennas. It was not, however, capable of efficiently handling data.

As more and more people wanted to be able to be connected while on the go, not only with voice but with email, the web, navigation services, and now social networking, the carriers like Verizon and AT&T needed a revolutionary upgrade and that resulted in the 3G network.

This brings us to the present and the 4G networks being touted by these same big carriers. The official definition of the capacities of the all the “Gs” is set by The International Telecommunication Union, the global wireless standards-setting organization. They have determined that 4G networks must be capable of download speeds of 100 megabits per second. In reality none of the carriers are achieving anything close to this speed. In most cases they provide speeds less than 50% of real 4G. For sure they have fast networks, but no cigar, no 4G.

Not to be deterred, the marketing gurus from many of carriers seem to have decided to collectively ignore the official definition and develop their own. Perhaps this is not a big issue when you are talking about bits and bytes. I do wonder what would happen if this trend carried over to BP or Shell. Could a gallon of gas be redefined by the gasoline companies as 14 ounces?

Instant Wifi Hotspots

Mobile phones keep getting better and better. Those of us with smart phones (iPhone, Droid, Pre, etc.) have the choice of thousands of applications that can run on our phones. Some are pretty lame and a waste of the time it took for some computer engineer to develop. Do I really need my smart phone to sound like an air horn? There are however some really useful applications that are time and money savers.

Among the myriad of these worthwhile applications now being offered by some smart phone manufactures and carriers is the wifi hotspot feature. I am not referring to the fact that you can access the internet from your phone using wifi hotspots at coffee shops, libraries and other public places. That feature has been around for years. This new application allows your phone to actually create a wifi hot spot. Here is how it works.

Turning on the wifi hotspot program makes your phone a wifi router. If you or a friend has a laptop computer with wifi, the laptop can wirelessly connect with your phone and use the phone’s 3G or 4G Internet connection. In essence, you are almost always able to connect to the Internet even if there is no traditional wifi or hard wired connection available.

This feature does not take the place of a lap top with wireless modem. Many road warriors have a 3G or 4G card built into their laptop since they are often away from the office and beyond traditional wifi range. Since they use it a lot, it is better to have it built in. The smart phone wifi hotspot application is for people who occasionally find the need to connect the laptop to the Internet but don’t want to spend the money for the fairly high monthly fee for the laptop modem.

When I first got my current phone from Verizon, the wifi feature was an extra $40 over and above my data and phone plan. Only a few months later Verizon began to offer the feature for free. I have used it several times and it works great.

You have to check with your carrier to see if they offer the service and you must have a phone that is capable as well. The Palm Pre Plus and the Droid models can run the application. It is interesting to note that the much heralded iPhone does not.

There are a couple things to keep in mind if you do decide to add this application to your phone. Make sure that you know what your plan covers. Some carriers give you a certain amount of data free and then begin to charge if you go over your allotment. If you have a few friends all connected to the Internet through your phone, you will use a lot of bits and bytes very quickly.

Also, the circuitry in the phone that allows this feature is very power hungry. My phone can only operate in this mode for about 1.5 hours. You can, of course, keep it plugged into your car or charger and use it without running down the battery.

So the next time you are on vacation at the beach or in a cabin in the woods, you can still stay connected. But again, you can also choose to turn it off.

Are Three "Gs" Better then Two "Gs"?

The battle continues between AT&T and Verizon. “My 3G network is better than your 3G network!” Maps fill the pages of TV Screens, newspapers and magazines comparing the networks’ coverage. Both promise a more robust and universal network. A week or so ago I was invited to speak before the Harrison Historical Society about new technology. Among the very insightful questions was one about this very issue. The question began with a request to define the term “smart phone.” To answer that question we need to define what all these “Gs” really mean.

Back in the dark ages of mobile phones when the smallest of the available devices was briefcase-size and had a battery that weighed a pound, all mobile or “cell” phones used a network dubbed “1G.” The “G” stands for generation and this network technology was the first generation. It was developed in the early 1980s and was fine for the analog devices in service at that time. It did require phones with protruding antennas and many cars required a little black antenna to be affixed to the rear window. In fact, in the early days that antenna was a sort of status symbol indicating that the driver had a cool new cell phone. You could even buy fake antennas to fool your neighbors that you were part of the cell generation.

The 1G networks were soon replaced by 2G, the first of the digital networks. With the number of mobile phone users exploding in the USA and around the world, the old analog system just could not handle the traffic. 2G systems could accommodate 50 or more simultaneous conversations on the same frequency and allowed for smaller phones with built in antennas. It was not, however, capable of efficiently handling data.

As more and more people wanted to be able to be connected while on the go, not only with voice but with email, the web, navigation services, and now even social networking, the carriers like Verizon and AT&T needed a revolutionary upgrade and that resulted in the current 3G, and soon to be prevalent, 4G networks.

The smart phone requires these networks as it essentially is not only a mobile telephone but can handle many of the tasks once requiring a computer. Next week we will look at smart phones in more depth and answer the question about who has the better G.