5 ms·

all I want is 3g on laptops

by pclark 14y ago

eli 14y ago
So like built-in cell data? My Thinkpad from 5 years ago had that. Doesn't seem like it'd be too hard to find.
- dmix 14y ago
  You can also get USB devices to add 3G support for pretty cheap.
  - pclark 14y ago
    I have been very surprised at how much more I use mobile data on my iPad now that it is built in - it just seems like too many steps to activate a hotspot or dongle, whereas if "it just works" I love it.
swalsh 14y ago
I'm sure as LTE gets going, you'll see 4g built in. I would bet you could fit 4 antennas in one. Which would give you some amazing throughput in a 4x8 MIMO setup. Of course the interference from the computer might cause a lot of issues?
- dangrossman 14y ago
  There's no technology problem waiting to be solved. Laptop manufacturers could build in LTE chipsets today if they wanted to. The issue is that no cell carrier wants them to; it would create demand they're not prepared to meet. The current trend is just the opposite -- to lower monthly limits and increase prices for 4G data services. Creating more demand would just lead to cities where there are more people connected than the towers can handle.
  - wmf 14y ago
    Plenty of Windows laptops have built in 3G/4G and the carriers are happy to take another $60/month from you.
  - swalsh 14y ago
    > it would create demand they're not prepared to meet. So what you're saying is carriers are not "technically" prepared to handle it? I wonder if 4g has any new technologies to handle making more efficient use of resources? From my understanding of LTE, there's a lot of cool things being prepared in the specifications for 4G that make this scenario less burdensome. For instance femtocells are likely to become more common. I personally know of a specific carrier that's working on a technology so you can share resources between two sectors. OFDM in particular is good for minimizing interference which should allow networks to become more dense, I believe as technology evolves there's a lot of benefits to even the carriers to allow users to use 4G from their laptop.
    - dangrossman 14y ago
      > So what you're saying is carriers are not "technically" prepared to handle it? No. I said what I meant; it's not a technology problem. Demand exceeding capacity in the short-term is a capital/resource allocation problem. Capacity isn't constrained by a need for new specs or new hardware. It's constrained by most of the cell towers only having <50mbps backhaul for 3G. New towers need new radios, new equipment to drive it, and new backhaul to provide enough bandwidth to share among the connections. It takes a lot of time and money to upgrade and build out the network. The carriers are carefully managing demand through pricing and service limitations so that it doesn't outstrip the rate at which they make those upgrades.
dangrossman 14y ago
What would be the point when there's not a single US cell network that offers unlimited 3G data for computers? Or is there someone in California? There's not here. Might as well just tether from your phone since you can only do it a few times a month without hitting your data cap.
- agravier 14y ago
  Well, there are cheap unlimited 3G data plans without restriction on the device here in Singapore, and I guess in other countries too. But I guess Apple's biggest market remains the US, right?
- jarek 14y ago
  Who said anything about unlimited? 3 or 5 GBs of backup data for when you can't find or can't be bothered to find an open wifi network could still be quite nice. It won't replace your stream-HD-movies-all-day-wireless-N but it doesn't have to.
moe 14y ago
I want that too. In the meantime I got myself this[1] and can highly recommend it. No more fiddling with USB-dongles, you can just leave it in the bag and a single button press gives you a Wifi->3G bridge (for up to 5 clients). [1] http://www.amazon.com/UNLOCKED-HUAWEI-HSDPA-MOBILE-Velvet/dp/B004SLEX8C http://www.amazon.com/UNLOCKED-HUAWEI-HSDPA-MOBILE-Velvet/dp...

all I want is 3g on laptops

by pclark 14y ago

all I want is 3g on laptops

eli 14y ago

So like built-in cell data? My Thinkpad from 5 years ago had that. Doesn't seem like it'd be too hard to find.

dmix 14y ago
You can also get USB devices to add 3G support for pretty cheap.
- pclark 14y ago
  I have been very surprised at how much more I use mobile data on my iPad now that it is built in - it just seems like too many steps to activate a hotspot or dongle, whereas if "it just works" I love it.

swalsh 14y ago

I'm sure as LTE gets going, you'll see 4g built in. I would bet you could fit 4 antennas in one. Which would give you some amazing throughput in a 4x8 MIMO setup. Of course the interference from the computer might cause a lot of issues?

dangrossman 14y ago
There's no technology problem waiting to be solved. Laptop manufacturers could build in LTE chipsets today if they wanted to. The issue is that no cell carrier wants them to; it would create demand they're not prepared to meet. The current trend is just the opposite -- to lower monthly limits and increase prices for 4G data services. Creating more demand would just lead to cities where there are more people connected than the towers can handle.
- wmf 14y ago
  Plenty of Windows laptops have built in 3G/4G and the carriers are happy to take another $60/month from you.
- swalsh 14y ago
  > it would create demand they're not prepared to meet. So what you're saying is carriers are not "technically" prepared to handle it? I wonder if 4g has any new technologies to handle making more efficient use of resources? From my understanding of LTE, there's a lot of cool things being prepared in the specifications for 4G that make this scenario less burdensome. For instance femtocells are likely to become more common. I personally know of a specific carrier that's working on a technology so you can share resources between two sectors. OFDM in particular is good for minimizing interference which should allow networks to become more dense, I believe as technology evolves there's a lot of benefits to even the carriers to allow users to use 4G from their laptop.
  - dangrossman 14y ago
    > So what you're saying is carriers are not "technically" prepared to handle it? No. I said what I meant; it's not a technology problem. Demand exceeding capacity in the short-term is a capital/resource allocation problem. Capacity isn't constrained by a need for new specs or new hardware. It's constrained by most of the cell towers only having <50mbps backhaul for 3G. New towers need new radios, new equipment to drive it, and new backhaul to provide enough bandwidth to share among the connections. It takes a lot of time and money to upgrade and build out the network. The carriers are carefully managing demand through pricing and service limitations so that it doesn't outstrip the rate at which they make those upgrades.

dangrossman 14y ago

What would be the point when there's not a single US cell network that offers unlimited 3G data for computers? Or is there someone in California? There's not here. Might as well just tether from your phone since you can only do it a few times a month without hitting your data cap.

agravier 14y ago
Well, there are cheap unlimited 3G data plans without restriction on the device here in Singapore, and I guess in other countries too. But I guess Apple's biggest market remains the US, right?
jarek 14y ago
Who said anything about unlimited? 3 or 5 GBs of backup data for when you can't find or can't be bothered to find an open wifi network could still be quite nice. It won't replace your stream-HD-movies-all-day-wireless-N but it doesn't have to.

moe 14y ago

I want that too. In the meantime I got myself this[1] and can highly recommend it. No more fiddling with USB-dongles, you can just leave it in the bag and a single button press gives you a Wifi->3G bridge (for up to 5 clients). [1] http://www.amazon.com/UNLOCKED-HUAWEI-HSDPA-MOBILE-Velvet/dp/B004SLEX8C http://www.amazon.com/UNLOCKED-HUAWEI-HSDPA-MOBILE-Velvet/dp...