Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
� EV-DO: Stands for Evolution Data Only. This CDMA-based wireless data
platform, the fastest wireless WAN technology available on the mass
market, is capable of transmitting more than 2 Mbps, but typically is in
the 400 Kbps–700 Kbps range. It’s offered by Sprint and Verizon.
� GPRS/EDGE: The competitor to CDMA is a European standard named
Group System for Mobile Communications, or GSM for short. The highspeed
WAN version of GSM is called GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
and is offered by AT&T and T-Mobile in the United States. GPRS is often
described as 2.5G — that is, a technology between the second (2G) and
third (3G) generations of mobile telephony. Although speeds can theoretically
top 170 Kbps, a more likely range is 30 Kbps–70 Kbps — not that
fast. A slightly faster version, called EDGE, is widely available across the
United States as well.
� HSDPA: The 3G variant of CDMA, as we mention earlier, is EV-DO; GSM
has its own 3G variant called HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet
Access). HSDPA offers download speeds as fast as 3.6 Mbps and is widely
available in Europe but less so (to date) in the U.S. AT&T has launched
the service in several cities and should eventually reach all its major
markets with the service (we’d guess by the end of 2008).
� WiMAX: The up-and-coming wireless WAN technology is called WiMAX
(Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), which some people
believe could act as your home’s broadband connection, too, because
it can hit speeds of up to 70 Mbps! Wow, we can’t wait. Look for actual
services you can purchase based on WiMAX starting in 2008.
Using these data services on your laptop is easy. You just plug your PC Card
or Express card into your laptop (just like an 802.11 PC Card or Express card)
and launch your carrier’s cellular access program. You’re online, surfing away.
Wireless WAN chips are starting to ship in laptops now, in the same way that
Intel seeded the growth of the Wi-Fi space with 802.11 capabilities embedded
on the motherboard (with its Centrino products). So you can, if you want
to, order a Dell or Sony laptop with Verizon EV-DO on board (Wi-Fi too!) —
no hassling with PC Cards any more!
Of course it’s not just laptops that can utilize these services. Most new
phones (and all new smartphones) have at least a built-in 2.5G data capability.
Smartphones include e-mail client software, Web browsers, instant messaging
client software, and more. Plus, in many cases, you can connect your phone
to your laptop using a USB cable or a Bluetooth connection (see Chapter 15
for more on Bluetooth) and use the phone as a broadband wireless modem for
your laptop computer.
The biggest issues for these services are now cost (an unlimited plan sets
you back $60–$80 per month, and that’s on top of whatever you pay for your
mobile voice services) and availability (mostly in the major metro areas and
on interstate highways). Still, if you can get it, it’s great. We love our Sprint
EV-DO service!