Back then, there were no laptops!  Yes, you young kids out there, no laptops; thus no mobile broadband!  Well if that’s not shocking enough, get this.  There were also no DVDs!  That’s right, no DVDs.  And in fact, there weren’t even any CDs either.  I didn’t have a CD player until i was in my mid twenties for goodness sake!  As far as computers were concerned, before wireless internet, and indeed the internet, we did things on our computers like write out names a hundred or more times and make it flash on the screens but writing out a huge program on our ZX Spectrums.

I find it quite laughable now that i play online games with my mobile internet connection, anywhere in the world.  I can play chess against my friend in Russia (who incidentally isn’t that good just because he’s Russian), especially when i remember playing chess against my computer in the early 1980s with no chance of playing against anyone in another country!

Mobile broadband opens doors people.  Don’t forget this, because i find it hard to work out what could possibly come next, don’t you?

 The advancement of mobile broadband technology has led to the innovation of WiFi, a popular wireless technology which can be used in mobile phones, networks, video games and other electronic devices which have wireless technology capacities. It covers a technological range of IEEE 802.11 which includes 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11a. This technology has truly become mobile because of its increased utility even in laptops, game consoles, printers and other similar devices. Its cable-less connectivity has rendered it even more useful than some other mobile broadband devices and it has made downloading much faster and easier.

 WiFi is commonly seen in outdoor places and historical building where it is impossible to run cables and wires. These places make full use of Local Area Network technology that can host an access point. Since there is no need for cables and wires, network deployment has become less expensive yet much easier to create.

This mobile broadband technology usually connects to the adapters which can be found in laptops and mobile phones. Although there is a vast difference between the prices of the laptops and mobile phones, the cost of WiFi chipsets is continuing to drop. Hence, consumers can expect a drop in the process of these devices in the future.

Another good thing about WiFi is its global characteristics. Meaning, any WiFi device can work in any place in the world, excepting maybe some mobile phone units. Mobile phones have a contract with their network providers which can give the user more hassles than the ones who use a laptop. As of last year, there are more than 220,000 WiFi hotspots all over the world to which everyone can connect. However, not every hotspot offers free connection.
 
 Though this mobile broadband technology has a very valuable upside, there are some issues on its limitations. Spectrum assignments vary from countries to countries and the highest is that offered by Japan (1-14) as opposed to US (1-11) and Europe (1-13).

 Another issue against all WiFi networks is the limitation in its range. A normal router usually has only an antenna range of 32m or 120 ft. indoors and 95m or 300 ft outdoors. The difference in frequency bands also has a large effect on the access to the hotspot. A frequency band of 2.4 GHz will provide better access that those at 5 GHz frequency block. These factors can greatly affect the access to the hotspots in such that WiFi performance decreases as the distance increases.

 Be it in laptops, desktops or mobile phones, power consumption is also very high when using this mobile broadband technology. Wireless LAN applications eat up more power than its low-bandwidth counterparts, particularly, connections through Zigbee and Bluetooth. Because of this, it is imperative to be certain that a fully charged device will be used to connect through the WiFi.

 The use of WiFi for connection to the internet has made a lot of people internet savvy. Unfortunately, this has also caused so much traffic jams in WiFi networks. The more people use WiFi, the more congested the network becomes. Thus, even if it has been more accessible, the many users can make this technology work very slow.