Cell Phone Wireless Broadband

If you are only using a cell phone to talk, you're missing half the capability of the cellular networks. What started as a mobile voice network is now both a voice and data network. Not just text data, but wireless broadband Internet access that rivals fixed DSL and Cable broadband offerings.

What's available in mobile Internet service today? If you haven't used this capability or been following industry developments, you may be surprised by how available and how fast cell phone wireless Internet access has become. There are two rival systems in use today, with two more even faster networks starting the build-out phase.

AT&T has championed their HSDPA and EDGE networks, with the most talked-about implementation being the Apple iPhone. The original iPhone runs on EDGE, with broadband speeds around 100 Kbps. That's at least twice what you'd get with dial-up, but modest by broadband standards.

The new iPhone 3GS runs on the HSDPA or High Speed Download Packet Access network. That jumps the download speed up to a maximum of 3.6 Mbps, with typical user speeds around 500 to 700 Kbps. That's more what you'd expect in basic broadband service and enough to enable fast Web browsing and video downloads. Right now AT&T is upgrading its network to a faster technology called HSPA which should double your access speeds.

T-Mobile uses the same technologies for voice and data as AT&T. Both are worldwide carriers based on GSM service that is popular internationally.

Verizon and Sprint are CDMA rather than GSM carriers. That means they use a completely different technology. On the data side this is called EVDO for EVolution Data Optimized. EVDO is highly competitive with HSDPA, with a basic Rev 0 speed offering bursts of up to 2.1 Mbps on downloads and a typical speed of 400 to 700 Kbps. EVDO Rev A takes that up to 3.1 Mbps download bursts, although typical speeds are only modestly improved to around 800 Kbps. What Rev A really does is improve upload speeds to 300 to 400 Kbps.

As you can see, the 3G networks for the major cellular carriers give you similar performance. Your choice probably will revolve more around the coverage available in your area and the particular model of phone, aircard or netbook that you choose.

What's even more interesting is the 4G wireless broadband in the development and early deployment phase right now. Sprint has partnered with Clearwire to create a new service called WiMAX that will run on completely different frequencies. AT&T and Verizon are working to develop a competing technology called LTE, or Long Term Evolution, that will also use different frequencies than are being used for cellular service now. That means that 3G and 4G networks will co-exist, at least for awhile.

How fast will 4G be? They'll start out about 10x as fast as 3G and go up from there as the technology is refined and deployed everywhere. The 4G wireless networks will be the equal of faster wireline broadband services today and will easily support services such as real-time two-way video.

While 4G is the coming thing, 3G is the hot mobile broadband service readily available today. Discover the wide variety of cell phones, smartphones, wireless modem aircards and netbook computers available with cell phone wireless broadband, often free or at very attractive discounts.

Ethernet Port At Your Door

There's an Ethernet port that connects to the outside world. Where is it? It could be as close as your back door. Actually, it could be right there in your telecom closet.

Ethernet WAN (Wide Area Network) service is a fairly new development. Most companies and other organizations are used to getting their outside connections using the traditional telecom network. The same technologies that carry telephone calls have been repurposed to transport digital signals from point to point and as access to the Internet.

You're no doubt familiar with T1 lines. Perhaps you also use DS3 connections or OC3, OC12 or OC48 SONET fiber optic services. Did you know that all of these services got their start carrying telephone calls between phone company central offices? Since they are digital in nature, specialized equipment can do a protocol conversion from the Ethernet that runs on your local networks to the TDM (Time Division Multiplexing) that runs on the public switched telephone network.

Say you want to connect the LANs at two of your business locations. You may order a point to point T1 line to transport the packets between locations at a rate of 1.5 Mbps. If you need more bandwidth to keep the LAN data from having to wait on the WAN connection, you can order DS3 service at 45 Mbps. The protocol conversion will be performed at each end, so that your LANs and the telecom network each have the data in a format they can use.

This methodology works fine, and has been doing so for decades. But now you have another choice. Why not just connect your two LANs together with a very, very long Ethernet connection?

You are probably saying, "Ethernet doesn't work that way. There are strict limitations as to how far you can extend the network."

That's true within your own building or campus. But there is another set of standards that apply to Ethernet that is transported by common carrier over long distances. These long haul connections come under the category of Carrier Ethernet. Within a city, they are often called Metro Ethernet.

There's practically no limit on how far you can connect using Carrier Ethernet. Do you have an office and factory in different parts of town? Connect their networks with a level 2 Metro Ethernet connection. That's right, level 2. You can use network switches to make the connection and keep everything on the same network. You can also set up mesh networks for multiple locations in-town or around the country. How about the Internet? Use a Carrier Ethernet connection to provide your access to the Internet.

But why do that if your old telecom services work just fine? How about paying less, maybe 50% less, for the same connectivity? The higher your bandwidth requirements, the more Ethernet WAN connections can save. The reasons are that Ethernet services are often provided by competitive carriers with modern networks designed from the ground up for efficient IP transport. When they can provide the complete network, including connections to your buildings using EoF (Ethernet over Fiber) or EoC (Ethernet over Copper), the cost savings can be astonishing.

How much can you save? Run a quick check and see what Ethernet WAN services are available for your location.

What is ISDN and Why Do I Want It?

You may have heard the term ISDN related to telephone services. So what is it and what can it do for you?

ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network. It's a fancy term for digital telephone service. But not just any digital phone service. This one has very specific standards.

The story behind ISDN goes back to the days when the standard for Internet access was a dial-up modem using an ordinary analog telephone line. ISDN was envisioned as a way for users to have a combination of separate telephone service and Internet service on a single ISDN telephone line with three channels. Two of these are called "B" or bearer channels and are 64 Kbps each. The third is the "D" or delta channel that is used for switching and signaling. One B channel can be used for a telephone handset. The other can be used for a modem. Or both channels can be combined for 128 Kbps Internet service. This arrangement is called ISDN BRI. The BRI means Basic Rate Interface.

The telephone companies expected ISDN BRI to be a hit with consumers as an upgrade to their analog phone service. But by the time it was ready for mass deployment, Internet standards had moved on and everybody really wanted DSL or Cable broadband. After all, 128 Kbps may be impressive when compared to a dial-up modem, but it pales in comparison with always-on broadband at 512 Kbps or higher. Today, even mobile users want bandwidth above 1 Mbps, so ISDN BRI is of little interest to most users.

The exception is in the field of broadcasting and professional audio. ISDN BRI lines can be used to transmit high quality audio through the telephone network by using a CODEC (Coder / Decoder) to convert the audio to and from the ISDN format at each end of the call. Guests around the country can join a panel discussion and sound like they are right in the studio instead of hundreds or thousands of miles away. Voice over artists can contribute to a production from their home studios.

Where ISDN flourishes today is in its second standard, called PRI or Primary Rate Interface. ISDN PRI consists of 24 channels configured as 23 bearer channels plus 1 delta channel. The 23 bearer channels can each support 1 telephone call each. That's 23 digital phone lines, plus the delta channel used for signaling and Caller ID data.

ISDN PRI is the telephone service of choice for medium and large company telephone systems. Most PBX and IP PBX business phone systems offer built-in support for at least one ISDN PRI line. Other systems can be configured for one or more ISDN PRI trunks with a plug-in circuit card.

In addition to office PBX telephone, ISDN PRI is preferred by company contact centers and independent call centers. There is a significant cost reduction realized by using a single ISDN PRI instead of a dozen or more individual analog phone lines. Each channel on the PRI can be configured to be local and/or long distance, incoming and/or outgoing calls. If more than 23 lines are needed, more can be added to the system to double, triple or quadruple the number of active phone lines.

ISDN PRI is delivered on a T1 line in the United States. For this reason, it is sometimes known as T1 PRI or T1 telephone service. In other countries, an E1 line might be used to provide PRI service.

Now that you know what ISDN is good for, can this service help your business or organization to provide high quality voice communications for perhaps less than you are spending now? Find out by checking ISDN PRI service pricing now.

Motorola Karma's Gonna Get You

Karma is the effect of your actions coming back to you in the future. John Lennon sang about "Instant Karma" back in 1970. Now Motorola's got karma in the form of the new Karma QA1 Silver cell phone. It's perhaps the first phone designed for social networking. With all the cool technology in one compact package, this Karma really is out to get you - as a customer, that is.

The Motorola Karma is a palm size device, almost square in shape when closed, with rounded corners. With a flick of your thumb, it slides up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard normally hidden beneath the screen. With the crisp 2.5 inch color screen and this keyboard, messaging is a pleasure. You'll be fully enabled for SMS text messaging in a threaded, chat-style view. Plus email, instant messaging, and multimedia (both picture and video) messaging.

Ful HTML Web browsing is available with the MEdia Net Web browser. This one will perform, too, because the Karma connects to AT&T's 3G network. Data download speeds are up to 3.6 Mbps, better than many landline broadband services.

Motorola isn't kidding when they call the Karma a social networking phone. They've built-in quick and easy access to Facebook and MySpace. Oh, yes, you can also actually talk to people if you want. It is a cell phone. In fact, it's a internationally compatible cell phone so you can call from most anywhere in the world.

Not feeling all that social at the moment? Then listen to some XM radio or your own tunes. Get away from the madding crowd. Don't worry, you can find your way back when you're ready. The aGPS systems supports AT&T Navigator for mapping and directions.

While the Motorola Karma goes out of its way to make text messaging easy, it also gives you the ability to capture and share high resolution still photos and video clips. The 2.0 Megapixel digital camera takes pictures good enough to print. You can do that wirelessly with any Bluetooth enable printer. In camcorder mode, you can record video clips at 15 frames per second or share them in real-time with AT&T video share service.

Are you ready to upgrade your mobile social networking tools? If so, take a closer look and order your Motorola Karma QA1 Silver FREE with new AT&T wireless service and any add-on services you'd like to have. Order a family plan and get TWO Karma's. In fact, treat someone in the family to one of these and you're sure to generate some good karma for yourself.

Rural Broadband Stimulus Hopes To One-Up Dial-up

Just before the 4th of July holiday, the long-anticipated rural broadband stimulus funding was launched with release of the official government "Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and solicitation of applications."

If you want to get in on the action, you best get a move on. Applications are only being accepted between July 14 and August 14 of this year.

As a potential user rather than a provider of broadband services, you'll have to wait awhile longer before you can expect a nearby on-ramp to drive your buggy onto the information superhighway. Yes, buggy not sports car. If you've been eagerly anticipating FTTF (Fiber to the Farmstead), you may find the definition of broadband a bit disheartening. The bar has been set at a breathtaking speed of 768 Kbps download and 200 Kbps upload to meet the criteria of "broadband" Internet service.

Why such a poky broadband standard when AT&T and Verizon are slugging it out to see who can deliver 50 & 100 Mbps to the most residential users where their U-verse and FiOS services, respectively, are in a feverish construction phase? Simply because some people way-out-there are lucky to get 56 Kbps dial-up modem service on their telephone line. The idea is to get universal digital service in the same way that we've finally gotten universal telephone service and rural electrification.

The one difference is that electricity and telephone service standards are the same everywhere. There isn't one set of standards for city dwellers and another for those in the boonies. But broadband is a different animal. It's always been tiered service, with those who live in denser populated areas and willing to pay more getting to go first class.

Perhaps this is the natural difference between mandated universal service and the workings of the competitive marketplace. I've argued before that broadband should be treated like a utility. Even more than that, it should be considered a strategic infrastructure for the country. Broadband is a lot more than the amusement value of YouTube and Twitter. It's about the commercial value of online shopping, working remotely, and creating value with new Web services. It's about the educational importance of having an immense library at your fingertips that would have stunned Andrew Carnegie, as valuable as the bricks and mortar libraries he donated were to earlier generations. It's about the democracy of collaboration to advocate for a cause or support a political candidate on the other side of the state or the country.

The commercial marketplace will never be all-inclusive. It's profit driven. Where the numbers look good, the infrastructure will be built and the head-to-head competition will be brutal. Areas where the population is too thin to recover capital costs in a timely manner are simply passed over. You can see this today even with cellular phone service. In the city there may be a carrier branded cell phone store on nearly every corner. But drive out where the highway turns into a cow path and you'll find gaping holes in the service footprint. No bars in these places unless they're country taverns.

The opportunity that may be missed here is the chance to lift the entire population to a new plateau. That may sound a bit fanciful, but consider the downward slope we've been on as a society from our post-WWII productivity and world dominance high. The national debt is through the roof. The auto industry nearly died this summer. The banking system had to be brought back from death's door this spring. Anyone looking to "upgrade" their house or job this year? Hanging-on is the new moving up.

We've been told repeatedly by industry and government officials that we're competing in a new world marketplace. Just what tools do we have to compete with? If this is the long anticipated information age, many of us are going to miss it. We going to miss the knowledge jobs. We're going to miss the massive productivity multiplier that instantaneous collaboration offers. We're going to miss the opportunity to live where it's beautiful and still participate in the 21st century economy. We're going to miss the next leg up in technological progress that will be based on video instead of text. We're going to miss it because 768 Kbps is a pittance, not a stimulus.

Hopefully, the minimum will not become the standard and the builders of the rural broadband initiative will exceed expectations, giving us something of real value for our $7.2 billion. Perhaps your company will be one of those that wins a grant to trench fiber or put up a WiMAX tower. If so, I hope you'll think big and set the performance standard high. As a society on the edge, we truly need the best you can possibly do.