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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

How To Get Online Wirelessly - No Coffee Shop Required

One of the hottest technology trends around today is the ability to get online anywhere, anytime. Without a WISP (Wireless ISP) service in your area, or wifi at Starbucks, your favorite coffee shop, or even some McDonalds and Burger Kings, you don't have a choice, you cannot get online. Or at least that was true in the past.

The major cellular vendors are beefing up their networks for what is believed to be one of the "next big things". You see, these vendors like Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS/Nextel, Cingular, and T-Mobile have all invested millions of dollars in providing cellular towers across the country so that you can get a cell signal in almost any decently populated areas. Competition is fierce, and each carrier is looking for some kind of value-added service or function to entice customers to switch to their service.

One of the biggest things they have done recently is to allow you to get online from your laptop computer using one of their "air cards", sometimes known as an "EVDO card". These cards plug into the PCMCIA slot on your laptop (almost all laptops have a PCMCIA slot), and as long as you can pick up a decent signal from that carrier's cell tower, you can get online with your laptop and this manufacturer-specific air card!

Verizon and Cingular appear to be leading the pack with this technology, with new high-speed hotspots appearing regularly across the country. Sprint is also investing heavily into creating more Sprint-specific hotspot areas for their service. T-Mobile also has this service available. With these carriers, you can get the "data-only" plan without being required to have one of that carrier's voice/cell service plans.

From a performance perspective, T-Mobile trails the pack significantly. Although their plan is the cheapest (about $30 per month for unlimited access), performance is barely as good as a dial-up connection. But if dial-up speed is sufficient for you, this can be a very mobile and cost-effective option.

As of the end of February 2006, in areas where Verizon had their high-speed option available, average download speed was measured at 563k, which is a speed that many home DSL or cable users don't get as high as. Verizon currently has this service available in about 70 markets. About 38% of responders reported seeing speeds greater than 600k.

In areas where the high-speed version of the Sprint equivalent is available, average download speed is reported as 641k, and is available in about 108 markets nationwide. About 47% reported seeing speeds higher than 600k regularly.

The Cingular equivalent reported an average download speed of 581k in areas where the service is available.

Be SURE to set your expectations correctly. A strong cell signal is required from the carrier providing the service to get the best possible speed, in the same sense that a voice cell connection may be scratchy if the cell signal in a given location is marginal. In areas that can deliver this data service but have not yet been upgraded to provide the high-speed option, typical connection speed (again with a strong cell signal) is reported as significantly less, around 152k as an average, or about 3 times the speed of a decent dial-up connection.

The plans can be a bit pricey, but you're paying for truly mobile connectivity without being tied to an Ethernet cable and modem, or a particular coffee shop hotspot offering wireless like Starbucks. The plans run about $80 per month for unlimited access, although Verizon recently announced a plan offering their unlimited access plan for $60 if you also get a 2 year voice cellular plan with it (at additional cost of course). The carriers also have cheaper plans with a monthly data transfer limit, but be very aware that if you start using this regularly, the overage charges will end up costing much more than just opting for the "unlimited" plan in the first place.

The good news is that it's easier to learn about, shop, and compare ALL of these plans and the "air cards" now than it ever has been.

In fact here's 2 resources that will help you do just that:

EVDOinfo.com

EVDO Forums

The additional good news is that a LOT of people are not aware that this capability exists, and it exists at a price that is much less than it was only a year or two ago! So take advantage of the possibilities....and expand your wireless experience!

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com and Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.

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Common Questions On T1 Bandwidth - With Practical Answers

Confused about T1 bandwidth? No need to be any longer. Here's some of the most commonly asked questions .... with practical answers to set you straight and on your way to confidently utilizing this backbone of business voice and data networks.

1. If T1 data rate is 1.5 Mb, why isn't a cable service "equal or better" which offers 6MB down/768 Kb up? What are the fundamental differences between T1 and Cable?

Basically T1's are business connections. Cable/DSL services are usually residential.

T1's normally have:

* unlimited throughput

* a guaranteed uptime per month

* no port blocking, allowing servers

* upload 2-5x as high as cable/DSL

* faster repair times, as in the company will most likely take priority repairing them

* a dedicated line

Cable/DSL usually has an AUP or TOS that disallows servers, and may have high downtimes. Plus when there is no internet, there might be no business either.

Cable/DSL have high download speeds, but in a business setting, you might only be checking email/browsing the web/updating database records, so you don't need so much download. However you may be running a server that uploads a lot, or you might be updating a website and need to send files often. The upload of a T1 helps in this setting.

Raw peak speed it not all there is to a connection. T1 is marketed as a business class service. That means it is symmetrical, making is easy to run servers and comes with a service level agreement that guarantee minimal acceptable performance and mean time to repair (MTTR). These are critical components in the marketing of different services. If you are a business the cost of a network outage could be dramatic.

That being said the widespread availability of extremely low cost residential services is putting tremendous price pressure on traditional business class services. With that you see the cost of T1 lines (as well as DS3 even OC3) dropping steadily over the last year.

2. Is T1 more than just raw bandwidth? Is voice T1 fundamentally different than data T1 for Internet access or "integrated T1" for voice and Internet access? If you need voice, do you have to go with a telco-type T1 provider who can provide you DIDs and local and long-distance service, etc? When people talk about "integrated T1" which can be used for Internet access (data) and telephone service (voice), how does the provider handle data side and voice side?

Simply put T1 is a point-to-point link. T1 was developed in the late early 1960s to carry 24 digitized phone calls between telephone switching offices. Think of T1 as a simple pipe, between you and the service provider. That service provider may be the phone company delivering voice service over the T1 pipe, or an ISP delivering Internet access. To the T1 line how the bits are used does not matter, bit-is-bits. If you want DID trunks you need to make sure the remote end of the T1 connects to a service provider capable of delivering them.

Remember the history of T1.

It was designed to carry digital phone calls. Total capacity is divided into 64 kbps channels. That is ideal for voice but is makes no sense for data, so data uses unchannalized T1. In the middle is that ability to mix and match data and voice. Thus the birth of "integrated T1" lines.

3. In "integrated T1", voice calls get priority. In the absence of any voice calls, all the bandwidth is available for Internet access. How is "dynamic and automatic" bandwidth allocation done? Do you need special edge equipment to do this?

T1 is just a pipe. It is a simple matter to have equipment at each end of the T1 dynamically allocate voice as high priority and data on a best effort basis over a single T1 pipe, the common term is Integrated Access Device (IAD).

There you go. You're now armed with the basic knowledge needed to make the initial educated decisions on installing a T1 line for your business voice/data network. For more complex applications I strongly suggest using the services of a no-cost consultant to guide your business through any potential minefields.

May 18, 2008 May 19, 2008 May 20, 2008 May 22, 2008 May 23, 2008 May 24, 2008 May 29, 2008 May 30, 2008 Jun 1, 2008 Jun 2, 2008 Jun 3, 2008 Jun 4, 2008 Jun 5, 2008 Jun 6, 2008 Jun 7, 2008 Jun 8, 2008 Jun 9, 2008