- For those who know exactly what 3G versus 4G, fiber to the home versus fiber to the node, CDMA versus GSM, and Mbps versus MB/s are, read this column anyway. Your comments are appreciated. For everyone else, here's hoping this column clears up some fuzzy areas that most people have about networks of both fixed and mobile variety. Don't worry... these misconceptions are probably not your fault... unless you are confusing bits with bytes. This brings us to the first questions:
Q: My ISP says my internet package is 12 Mbps, yet I only get 1.5 MB per second on downloads! What gives?A: You're suffering from the bit-versus-byte debacle. Eight bits make up a byte, network speed is measured in (kilo- or mega-) bits per second and everything else is measured in (kilo-, mega-, giga-, or tera-) bytes (per second). Divide 12 Mbps by eight bits in a byte and you get 1.5 MB/s.
Fortunately we're in an area where no ISP has confused bits (lower case "b") and bytes (upper case "B") on their website. It's an atrocity against unit conversions, but this slip-up does happen all too often.
One other thing to note is that, unless you're on Qwest's new VDSL2 infrastructure (which isn't available in Golden) you can expect to get only 85% of your advertised internet speed due to DSL-related overhead. With the new infrastructure, the percentage climbs to about 92%. Comcast gives its speed tiers enough juice to deliver 100% of their advertised speeds.
Q: Comcast talks about their fiber optic network. Qwest talks about theirs. Are they telling the truth?A: Technically yes, but both providers are muddying the waters. Everyone these days runs their network on fiber at some point, though how far the customer is from the fiber varies significantly from provider to provider, and from technology to technology. For example, in Golden, Qwest probably has fiber in their central office building. However, your DSL connection is all copper from there, which might entail a distance of up to three miles.
Qwest's newer ADSL2+ service generally gets users within a mile of fiber, and their "cutting edge" VDSL2 service brings fiber to within two thousand feet of those lucky enough to get the technology. In all cases, however, Qwest does not give you fiber to the home. Comcast is similar in this regard, though chances are Comcast has fiber closer to your home than Qwest does.
Q: What's PowerBoost?A: It's a network measure that gives you a burst of extra bandwidth at the beginning of a download above what you normally pay for. In my experience, if you are on Cocmast's standard tier, this burst lasts for the first few dozen megabytes of an upload or download, and pushes speeds to 20 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up, assuming you have a good path between your computer and the server you are downloading from or uploading to.
Q: What wireless router should I get for my internet connection?A: If you are buying Qwest, their provided router/modem combo is fine, though I was not impressed with the single-purpose ActionTec modem when I used it a year and a half ago. If you are using Comcast and renting a modem, drop by your local Comcast store (the nearest one to Golden is in Wheat Ridge) and grab a wireless router from them; the price of the router is included in your modem rental fee and the routers Comcast provides are solid.
That said, if you want to buy your own router, I'm partial to the current Linksys lineup. For a standard-grade connection, the WRT54G2 or WRT54GS2 is fine. I personally use a WRT310N, which is roughly equivalent to the new Cisco Valet Plus (but without the French Blue paint job). If you cannot find that particular model, the WRT320N or E2000 (same router) is a step up from the router I own.
Q: Can I use an iPhone/3G iPad on T-Mobile/Sprint/Verizon/CricKet/overseas?A: Sort of, no, no, no, and yes. T-Mobile's 3G network does not run on the same frequency as AT&T's, and the iPad and iPhone do not include that 3G frequency. However, EDGE and voice (on the iPhone) will work just fine, provided you have unlocked your iPhone (not too hard to do). If you want to use your iPhone or iPad overseas, it can definitely do that, though again, an iPhone needs to be unlocked in order to accept another carrier's SIM card.
The 3G iPad, from what I gather, will be unlocked from this perspective, though you will need scissors and a steady hand to cut a standard SIM chip down to the micro-SIM form factor used by the iPad.
Q: What does 3G stand for, and what's the difference between 3G and 4G?A: 3G stands for "third generation." Analog cellular phones were first generation. The first wave of digital phones (remember the Motorola StarTAC and the Nokia bar phone?) were "2G." Current phones with high-speed internet capability built in are 3G, either via EvDO (Sprint/Verizon) or UMTS/HSPA (AT&T/T-Mobile), though technically, even low-speed phones on Sprint and Verizon qualify under the strict definition for 3G (100 kbps maximum data speed or better), and have done so for six or seven years now.
4G at this point is just a marketing term, as the technical spec actually outpaces most wireline networks. However, 4G as a rule is faster than 3G. Currently Clearwire, which is roughly half-owned by Sprint, has the largest 4G network in the US, utilizing WiMAX to pump DSL speeds to your phone or aircard in a footprint that will soon include Denver. However, Verizon will be launching their own network, powered by the "other" 4G tech, LTE, this year. From what I hear, Verizon's network will be faster, but you will have to pay per gigabyte transferred. Sprint/Clear WiMAX, which will be co-branded by Comcast in this area, is currently unlimited in that respect.
Q: Why can I not use an unlocked phone on Verizon?A: Verizon, Sprint, and CricKet use CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology for their cellular networks. This technology is good from a capacity standpoint, but is only really used in the US, Canada (where it is slowly being phased out), and South Korea. Everywhere else in the world uses GSM (Global System for Mobile) and WCDMA (Wideband CDMA) standards, the same thing that AT&T and T-Mobile use. If you see an unlocked phone, the odds are overwhelming that it's GSM/WCDMA.
Q: What's all this buzz about Android? Can I get an Android phone that's not from Verizon?A: Android is Google's new cell phone operating system. It works very well and is now supported by all four of the US's major carriers, though AT&T's current Android lineup is downright pitiful. That said, if you shell out $529 for a Nexus One with the proper frequency bands, it will work on AT&T just fine.
T-Mobile currently has the widest Android selection, with six different phone models currently available running the OS. You have your choice of the T-Mobile G1 (the first Android phone ever), the MyTouch 3G (now with a real headphone jack), the Motorola Cliq and Cliq XT, the Samsung Behold II, and the Nexus One "Googlephone." Of these, the Nexus One is the most powerful, but also the most expensive by $30, assuming you sign a contract.
Verizon comes next. The
Motorola Droid is currently the hottest Android handset around, with the HTC Droid Eris running a close second. The HTC Droid Incredible, with several nice spec bumps from the Eris, will be coming soon and the Nexus One will be seeing a Verizon version in the near future.
Sprint might actually be tied with Verizon as far as its Android footprint goes. The Droid Eris is just a Verizon-branded HTC Hero, which Sprint carries, and the Samsung Moment, while not of Droid calibre, is still a nice phone. Sprint will also get the Nexus One, but the real kicker is the HTC Evo 4G, a huge-screen superphone that includes everything from an eight-megapixel, 720p-video camera to a wireless hotspot... and, of course, a WiMAX 4G radio. In the interest of full disclosure, I plan to replace my current phone with an Evo 4G.
Circling back to AT&T, they have one Android handset, the Motorola Backflip. The phone cannot run unsigned applications (those not from the Android Market), has Yahoo for search instead of Google, and all-in-all is not an impressive specimen of what Android can do. AT&T will also launch a phone or two from Dell running the OS, but these, too, will be crippled to fit AT&T's designs.
