Anywhere, Anytime Wireless Connections

Locations in this article:  San Diego, CA

computer business workingFor many travelers—business and otherwise—being able to connect to the Internet on the road has become more important than ever.

With more of us relying on connectivity for communication and entertainment, wouldn’t it be great if we were able to connect anytime, anywhere with our notebooks?

Wi-Fi looked like it might offer us this capability. Cities were going to offer it at a nominal cost, or even free. But that hasn’t happened.

While Wi-Fi is available in locations such as Starbucks for a daily or monthly fee, it doesn’t let us connect from wherever we happen to be and at the moment we want.

Offering a better solution are the broadband cellular data networks that allow us to connect wherever there’s a cellular signal, and that’s almost everywhere. You can count on fast speeds using the latest 3G (third-generation) technologies from Sprint, Verizon and AT&T, faster than most Wi-Fi connections and very adequate for most of the work we do on the road.

I’ve rarely encountered a location where it didn’t work.

But the service can be expensive—up to $40-$60 a month. However, Verizon has recently begun offering one-day service pricing options for users who do not want the monthly service options.

I use the tiny Novatel Wireless Ovation U727 USB connection card with the Sprint EVDO Rev A service. (Translation: The Ovation is a device that looks like a thumb drive which sends and receives data over a cellular network. EVDO refers to the wireless transmission of data through radio signals.)

sprint novatel wireless ovationIt performs superbly, connects to a USB port and can be moved from one computer to another, allowing me to use it on both my PC and Mac. But there’s one big limitation: It doesn’t work outside the country because of a lack of roaming agreements and incompatible technologies.

A new technology called WiMax is being promoted as the next generation of wireless connectivity for data for worldwide use. While it sounds like Wi-Fi, it’s much more like cellular service, working over similar distances, and requires new cell towers to be deployed. Wi-Fi, in contrast, is short-range technology working up to about 100 feet.

But so far it’s been a lot more promise than reality in the U.S. and is still several years away from wide availability, if it ever gets here. While WiMax promised faster speeds when it was announced several years ago, cellular broadband speeds continue to improve.

Qualcomm, which invented EVDO has come up with a clever solution to make the existing cellular data service more readily available and accessible worldwide. It has developed a new chipset that’s embedded into notebook computers that works with all of existing carriers. The product, called Gobi global mobile Internet offers advantages to the computer manufacturer, the carrier and the consumer.

The manufacturers will no longer need to build different models as they do now, each dedicated to a single carrier. As a user, we’ll be able to sign on to our choice of carrier by selecting from a list of plans displayed on our computer, comparing coverage, speed and cost. The carriers will also come out ahead by being able to offer their services to a much wider audience.

Carriers have committed to provide both long term and short terms plans, even by the day, just like Wi-Fi. Best of all, we’ll be able to sign up for short-term use when traveling overseas, paying by credit card.

Gobi technology will begin appearing in notebooks from Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Panasonic this year. Assuming the carriers provide reasonable pricing, Gobi will be a boon for both local and world travelers. Best of all we won’t need to wait for years to see if the promise of WiMax ever becomes reality.

By Phil Baker. Originally published in the San Diego Transcript. Check out Phil Baker’s blog at https://blog.philipgbaker.com.

Previously by Phil Baker:

Mini Notebooks: Can Something So Cute Be Useful?

Thin Is In: Mac Air Vs. PC Thinkpad

The Best Bluetooth for the Road

Gadgets for Business Travelers on the Go

Battle of the Gadgets: The Smartphone Wars