WiFi - Do you want it?Advantages WiFi has the advantage of being very fast and secure, and can be used as a Local Area Network (LAN) to connect to various devices without the need for cables. It's also relatively inexpensive, and easy to setup. Note that you can use some basic settings to ensure that your neighbors or any other unauthorized users cannot access (i.e. "steal") your network. Also, when comparing a Wi-Fi connection to a cellular Internet connection, Wi-Fi will always be faster assuming that the Internet connection (ex. Cable or DSL) is faster than your wireless provider's Internet connection, which is usually the case; at least for now! See WiMAX below. Disadvantages  The
major disadvantage of WiFi is that its reach is limited. As
noted
above, one access point (i.e. router) usually reaches a maximum of 32m
(120ft), which means that you can only use it in certain rooms in the
house (depending on how far you are from the base), or in coffee shops,
etc. You'll often hear of these different pockets of WiFi
signals
referred to as "hot spots." As you get out of range of the
hot
spot, the signal will become weak, and you'll lose the connection.Mobility vs. Speed Because of its limited range, unlike a cell phone, you can't go anywhere you want, or drive away from the hot spot and stay connected. Some communities or even cities, have setup large grids of Wi-Fi routers to enable people in those areas to be able to travel around and stay connected. However, Wide Area Networks (WANs) are not to be confused with cellular networks, which are so vast that you can drive across the country while maintaining a connection! To learn more about wireless (cellular) Internet, click here. Recently you'll see wireless providers offer Wi-Fi connectivity included in their phones. You might wonder why they would do that? Given all of the free hot spots around these days, it allows cellular customers to connect to local hot spots (ex. coffee shops) and connect to the Internet without having to use their cellular connection. So what? Well, because you usually have some MB (megabyte) or GB (gigabyte) limit, or pay for each KB (kilobyte) or MB of access, connecting to a Wi-Fi networks will save you money! Another way to save money is to consider a prepaid Wi-Fi (see below). Wi-Fi networks are also typically faster than your wireless carrier's 3G network. For example, use an iPhone on AT&Ts "high speed" network and you'll get frustrated pretty quickly as pages load slowly. Connect to a WiFi hot spot and you'll be zipping along reading articles or watching YouTube movies on that beautiful vibrant screen! You can visit Mobile Broadband Technology & Speeds for more details. Lastly, cellular high speed 3G networks are extremely expensive. As people start using them more and more to surf the Internet, or download music or steaming video, wireless providers need to build out their networks to support the volume (referred to as increased bandwidth requirements). It's much cheaper for carriers to build in Wi-Fi into their phones and allow you to connect to free hot spots, than to support the high usage of their data networks. Even though they lose money because you're not paying to use their network when you're not on it, it's still a better deal for them, and higher speed for you! Especially for those on unlimited data plans, carriers would much rather have you use someone else's Wi-Fi network than their 3G network, as you're not paying anything extra to use their network because you're on an unlimited plan. Good phones will seamlessly connect to Wi-Fi when you're in range, and reconnect to the 3G cellular network when you're out of range of the Wi-Fi network.
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