National Broadband plan appears to not change much

March 25, 2010

The FCC remains confident that its National Broadband plan can succeed in delivering high-speed internet to the masses, but after unveiling their plan they’ve invited the skeptics. Rob Pegoraro of The Washington Post gives his take, and it’s not very optimistic. The plan is slow-moving and relies upon many assumptions. Yet the toughest criticism to [...]

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How likely is the National Broadband plan?

March 14, 2010

Over the past few weeks and months we’ve heard plenty about the Federal Communications Commission, headed by Chairman Julius Genachowski, and their plan to provide free wireless broadband to the entire country, especially the 35 percent who currently lack it. The goal is to get 90 percent of the population covered, using partnerships with entities [...]

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Amtrak to implement Wi-Fi on some trains

March 1, 2010

Mass transit has never experienced mass appeal in the U.S., but with Wi-Fi networks gaining traction that might change. If people can get work done while commuting or traveling, perhaps they’ll choose to take the train instead of driving. We’ve seen services like this, most notably on the Bolt Bus. The latest on the bandwagon [...]

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AT&T winning the broadband speed game

February 25, 2010

Which of the major mobile provides has the fastest transfer speeds? We’ve seen a number of attempts to nail this down, and it seems that each time we get a different answer. A Gizmodo survey said Sprint. Another said AT&T. So which is it? PC World got into the game, and has found that AT&T [...]

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NETGEAR and Ericsson release 3G wireless router

February 9, 2010

We’ve seen a number of 3G routers released over the past year or so, mostly tied to specific carriers. This latest one, from NETGEAR and Ericsson, could be among the best. It combines an internal 3G radio with a traditional wireless router to provide customers with a primary or backup option for their Internet needs. [...]

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How far away is LTE?

January 23, 2010

For the past few years we’ve heard cell phone carriers tout the virtues of LTE to us. Most of them have hopped on the bandwagon, and Verizon claims they’ll have North America’s first LTE network running early this year. We haven’t heard many specifics from their testing, but we did hear something about TeliaSonera’s LTE [...]

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Verizon hints at usage-based pricing for LTE network

January 13, 2010

The prospect of a fourth-generation network and the opportunities it can bring to modern technology has excited many. Verizon Wireless plans to launch the nation’s first commercial LTE 4G network this year, which could kickstart a wave of products developed with Internet capabilities. In fact, that’s what Verizon plans to do. They want third-party developers [...]

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Sprint releases hybrid 3G/4G router

January 7, 2010

One of the most difficult aspects of launching a 4G network is the transition. How does a carrier get its customers, already equipped with 3G devices, to sign up for 4G plans? Sprint thinks it has the answer. They’ve been releasing hybrid devices that can capture both 3G and 4G signal. This not only opens [...]

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Is DataJack too good to be true?

December 30, 2009

When shopping for a 3G mobile broadband package, consumers should expect two things: high prices, low caps. It’s not an ideal scenario, but it’s the situation we’re stuck with. That’s why we view the new DataJack mobile broadband plans with a twinge of skepticism. The company will launch the service at CES with an initial [...]

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Good news for you: mobile broadband pricing could decline

December 2, 2009

Every price decrease has to start somewhere. For mobile broadband, it might have started with T-Mobile. The last major U.S. carrier to offer mobile broadband services, T-Mobile stuck with the industry-wide cap of 5GB, but undercut its competitors by $10 per month, offering theirs at $50. They’re officially the cheapest of the Big Four now, [...]

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What exactly does 3G coverage mean?

November 18, 2009

One of the biggest stories in the cellular world over the past few weeks is the spat between Verizon Wireless and AT&T. It started when Verizon ran ads mocking AT&T’s 3G coverage, noting that they cover much, much more of the country with 3G than AT&T. The two sides argued, with AT&T eventually filing suit [...]

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4G technology will extend beyond phones, laptops

October 29, 2009

As it currently stands, 3G wireless services are used mainly on two devices: cell phones and laptops (including netbooks). This is mainly due to limitations of 3G networks. Yes, they can cover large areas, but they’re limited in speed and capacity. This has led to a number of restrictions on their usage — companies limit [...]

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Mobile broadband growth outpacing fixed line

October 13, 2009

Despite worldwide financial shakiness, mobile broadband remains a growth industry. While that rate isn’t quite as high in America, across the Atlantic people are signing up for mobile broadband plans faster than ever. A recent study shows that mobile broadband subscriptions are outpacing their fixed line counterparts. This is no insignificant number: mobile broadband subscriptions [...]

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Mobile WiMax hits markets in Oregon, Georgia

October 2, 2009

Residents of Salem, Oregon, and Milledgevill, Georgia, can now enjoy mobile WiMax service. Clearwire has launched service in those markets, part of their aggressive campaign to roll out almost completely by the end of 2010. These might not be the biggest markets, but as DSL Reports editor Karl Bode notes, these markets, along with recently [...]

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