Completely mobile Internet - the future?

[mostwanted]

I just saw a television commercial about this new upgraded 3rd generation network and proceeded to find out what the fuss is all about. Basically, with this new standard HSDPA, which is being implemented everywhere at the moment, you get full speed Internet access (1.8 Mbit/s to 14.4 Mbit/s) from your computer or mobile phone wherever you like - in the middle of a forest if you want to! It looks very promising. Looks like a true mobile revolution to me (existing 3G and older standards have been too slow for mobile Internet to really succeed).

But... if a true mobile revolution comes with this new technology, won't we (the Linux users) be crippled by the proprietary standards of most of these network providers? I'm really worried that Linux is going to miss out on this potential major step in mobility.

[Somenoob]

The future of the internet doesn't lie with portable devices, this mobile internet idea sounds just like a new form of ISP.

[mostwanted]

The future of the internet doesn't lie with portable devices, this mobile internet idea sounds just like a new form of ISP.

I'm interested in what you define as a portable device. Would a laptop qualify as a portable device to you?

I definitely see great progress in being able to access the Internet anywhere, whether it's at home, at work, in school, in a café, in a forest, in a boat, etc. without having to log on to any access points.

[Bigbluecat]

A laptop qualifies as a portable device. You cn already get HSDPA cards to plud into laptops adn there will be embedded options soon (like WiFi).

A word of caution - 14.4Mbps is a theoretcial maximum and unlikely to be acheived in a real network with noise.

Date rates for initial deployments will be 500kbps to 2Mbps depending on the signal and noise. It's pretty good all in all.

One of the biggest benefits is not the headline rate but the reduction in latency (response time from the network). This was very slow on 3G but much improved with HSDPA.

Last point - HSDPA is downlink only. You use 3G 384kbps on the uplink. On some networks this is only 64kbps and the uplink still has slow latency.

HSUPA comes next year adding 2Mbps and improved uplink latency.

Watch for flat rate data plans from your network providers. It's quite addictive getting over 2Mbps on the train and in cars etc.

[PartisanEntity]

I wonder how they are going to charge for it. A lot of the mobile connectivity companies charge you by the data you download which I find annoying, usually these are the mobile phone operators.

Hopefully whatever the dominant technology will be a few years down the road there will be flat rate deals.

[slimdog360]

hows this for mobile

[Bigbluecat]

Many operators are coming out with flat rate plans that do not charge per byte but watch out for fair use clauses.

[mips]

But... if a true mobile revolution comes with this new technology, won't we (the Linux users) be crippled by the proprietary standards of most of these network providers? I'm really worried that Linux is going to miss out on this potential major step in mobility.

Many of the 3G & HSDPA cards already work on Linux as far as i know. The Huawei E220 & E620 sold here I'm pretty sure work in Linux.

[Bigbluecat]

HSDPA is built on 3G networks. The modems are easy to control. Most will work with hyperterminal and appear as modem com ports (in Windows) if you don't want to use the supplied control software.

Their is a linux app for to controlling cellular modems by I can't remember it's name right now.