What is Wireless Broadband?
Well what is Wireless Broad band ? I’ll tell you one thing, Wireless Broadband may not be what you think it is!
Ok first off wireless broadband is all about getting Broadband Internet access without wires. That is it no wires! It sounds simple enough so far. Right, be warned, there are in deed two different types of wireless broadband systems being promoted to consumers this minute.
There is the Wireless Broadband hotspots that are popping up around the country where you can take your Wireless network (WiFi) enabled laptop and logon to the internet for either a monthly charge or pay as you go charge.
THIS is what Wireless Broadband truly is. You get your wireless broadband access completely wirelessly, you don’t have access, don’t know about, don’t care! about the wires involved, but they are there behind the walls trust me!.
As far as the end user is concerned it’s Wireless Broadband. The only wires you need to worry about is the one for the power to your laptop and your ipod!
Now that we’ve got that out of the way here’s the Big one that confuses many people. Internet Service Providers advertise Wireless Broadband for only $29.95 per month! What that really means is that you pay a monthly fee for access to a wireless broadband hotspot. This does not mean that you have complete access to wireless broadband internet anywhere.
Wireless Broadband that you pay a monthly fee to your (ISP) for is the exact broadband internet service that you would get from an ADSL Broadband service. That is the same service supplied through the home phone line and plugged into the phone jack at the back of your modem, router or your PC.
This is nothing close to wireless at all. And this is where the confusion sets in. Now the ISP’s now market this same old service as being new, when in fact this is exactly the same ADSL Broadband service they have been providing for many years now. The ISP’s are getting away with this kind of false advertising because the consumers have not got a clue as to what is happening and frankly they don’t really care since the service is fairly reliable and inexpensive.
The question is: Why do they advertise ADSL Broadband as Wireless Broadband if it’s not wireless? The reason dear Watson is, when you initially ordered your Internet Connection through your ISP you were given several option choices:
- ADSL Broadband with USB Modem
- ADSL Broadband with Internal (PCI) Modem
- ADSL Broadband with Network Router
- ADSL Broadband with no Modem/Router
The big difference with the above wireless broadband packages is that they are not offered with a real Wireless Broadband Network Router. THAT IS IT!! All this advertising and marketing is simple offering a so called Wireless Broadband Network Router which is the same as the ADSL Broadband Network Router but with a bit of circuitry inside which is able to transmit and receive Wireless signal. The ADSL Broadband service is the same. You still need to plug a cable from your phone line into the back of your supposedly Wireless Broadband Router.
To operate from real Wireless Broadband then be aware that Your PC, Laptop, PDA, Mobile phone, Games console must be equipped with a Wireless Network adapter for your devices. These adapters are: Internal PCI card for your desktop, PCMCIA for laptops and currently, you can buy relatively inexpensive USB adapters which are very convenient.
One other thing worth mentioning is that if you already have ADSL Broadband in your home you can get Wireless Broadband simply by purchasing a Wireless Broadband Router and connecting that to your phone line instead of your modem.
No need to inform your ISP, no need to pay extra rental or change your broadband package. The Wireless part of Broadband is simply what you have connected to the phone line in your home! So if you have ADSL Broadband and want to go Wireless – Buy a Wireless Broadband Router. Simple as that! Oh and you may also need some adapters if your computer equipment does not have wireless network (WiFI) capabilities built in.
