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What should be a relief to all is that this isn't permanent. There will come a point where wifi will defeat cellular in terms of technology. This is what Apple,

What should be a relief to all is that this isn't permanent. There will come a point where wifi will defeat cellular in terms of technology. This is what Apple, Google and MS are all waiting for and why none of them have bought a telco. The future is based off of unlocked phones with dirt cheap data plans. Technically the iPod touch will become a phone at that time because the tech will become so cheap.

Zev 14y ago
What makes you think it won't be the other way around -- say, a "5G" network that's an order of magnitude faster than LTE, and available anywhere. And at that point, what if people then stop buying wired Internet lines and wireless routers (because they all get the same bits, anyway), and instead use the cell network that already surrounds them.
- draggnar 14y ago
  But at what point is the significant increase in speed returning only a marginal increase in customer satisfaction? If the experience is the same in terms of usable speed, then it will come down to what is cheaper and easier (which will probably be whichever is more open).
- ConstantineXVI 14y ago
  LTE already keeps up with the (admittedly a bit slow, 10Mb/s) average cable line around here; the prohibitive cost (~$5-10/GB) is all that keeps it from competing with landline connections. Drop the cost to be closer, LTE-Advanced will be more than enough.
w1ntermute 14y ago
> There will come a point where wifi will defeat cellular in terms of technology. Can you please elaborate? I haven't seen any movements in this direction, in terms of wifi technology.
cgomez 14y ago
That seems really unlikely. Doesn't the FCC limit the range at which consumer radio products can transmit from their source? So, part of it is a technological limitation of WiFi, but also legal. And long-distance WiFi already exists, isn't that what WiMax was? I don't think the telecom companies are going to be displaced very soon because the simplicity of never having to choose a network to connect to is just how people think. Continguous and unibiquitous mobile broadband is probably not on the horizon from someone who isn't a large telecom. The move to unlocked phones though, I think is spot on.
- ars 14y ago
  That's not enough. If WiFi had a higher power there would be more interference and things would be slower. Cell data server works mainly because they put up a HUGE number of towers. But on the flip side, because they put up a limited number of towers, and make sure to not interfere with themself by carefully adjusting the transmit power.
ars 14y ago
> There will come a point where wifi will defeat cellular in terms of technology. This will only happen when people stop locking WiFi access points. It's rare for me to be in an area with no WiFi at all (except for parks, and freeways), but they are almost always locked. Is it true that if the WiFi is not locked then all the data is transmitted in the clear?
- yuhong 14y ago
  >Is it true that if the WiFi is not locked then all the data is transmitted in the clear? Yes.

Zev 14y ago

What makes you think it won't be the other way around -- say, a "5G" network that's an order of magnitude faster than LTE, and available anywhere. And at that point, what if people then stop buying wired Internet lines and wireless routers (because they all get the same bits, anyway), and instead use the cell network that already surrounds them.

draggnar 14y ago
But at what point is the significant increase in speed returning only a marginal increase in customer satisfaction? If the experience is the same in terms of usable speed, then it will come down to what is cheaper and easier (which will probably be whichever is more open).
ConstantineXVI 14y ago
LTE already keeps up with the (admittedly a bit slow, 10Mb/s) average cable line around here; the prohibitive cost (~$5-10/GB) is all that keeps it from competing with landline connections. Drop the cost to be closer, LTE-Advanced will be more than enough.

w1ntermute 14y ago

> There will come a point where wifi will defeat cellular in terms of technology. Can you please elaborate? I haven't seen any movements in this direction, in terms of wifi technology.

cgomez 14y ago

That seems really unlikely. Doesn't the FCC limit the range at which consumer radio products can transmit from their source? So, part of it is a technological limitation of WiFi, but also legal. And long-distance WiFi already exists, isn't that what WiMax was? I don't think the telecom companies are going to be displaced very soon because the simplicity of never having to choose a network to connect to is just how people think. Continguous and unibiquitous mobile broadband is probably not on the horizon from someone who isn't a large telecom. The move to unlocked phones though, I think is spot on.

ars 14y ago
That's not enough. If WiFi had a higher power there would be more interference and things would be slower. Cell data server works mainly because they put up a HUGE number of towers. But on the flip side, because they put up a limited number of towers, and make sure to not interfere with themself by carefully adjusting the transmit power.

ars 14y ago

> There will come a point where wifi will defeat cellular in terms of technology. This will only happen when people stop locking WiFi access points. It's rare for me to be in an area with no WiFi at all (except for parks, and freeways), but they are almost always locked. Is it true that if the WiFi is not locked then all the data is transmitted in the clear?

yuhong 14y ago
>Is it true that if the WiFi is not locked then all the data is transmitted in the clear? Yes.