In late 2010, Verizon rolled out its 4G LTE network, which offers data speeds 10 times as fast as 3G networks. But as mobile data traffic continues to grow-experts anticipate that it will increase 26-fold in the next three years-it's unlikely that any network will be able to keep up. Fortunately, something else is set to happen over the next three years: Wi-Fi could become as ubiquitous and easy to access as cellular is now.
Wi-Fi is up to 15 times as fast as LTE, but at this point it's an unrealistic substitute for cell service. Connecting is not a standard process. Users need to log into access points individually, enter passwords, and go through other credentialing rigmarole. And range is limited; once logged in, a user can't wander more than a few hundred feet from an indoor router. But such limitations will soon be gone.
Later this year, the Wi-Fi Alliance, a consortium that oversees Wi-Fi certification and testing, will release the Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint standard to automate logins. Based on the IEEE 802.11u protocol, Passpoint will allow devices to identify preferred hotspots, connect to them, enter passwords, and authenticate security credentials-all automatically. Users may be able to add Passpoint access to their cellphone plans or sign up for standalone service through another provider, such as Boingo, a company that serves 400,000 hotspots at locations like malls and restaurants. When users with Passpoint walk into a coffee shop or arrive at an airport, their phones will automatically connect with the network.
Wi-Fi's range is also set to increase significantly. In December, the Federal Communications Commission announced a plan to transition unused over-the-air wireless bands into Super Wi-Fi. Unlike today's Wi-Fi, which uses the 2.5-gigahertz and 5-gigahertz bands, Super Wi-Fi's low frequencies (from 470 to 698 megahertz) have longer wavelengths that travel farther and penetrate walls. An indoor hotspot with a 40-milliwatt transmitter will quadruple the range of standard Wi-Fi, and an outdoor four-watt commercial transmitter could create a hotspot that extends two or three miles in a dense city, or up to 40 miles in an open plain.
Super Wi-Fi field tests are already under way in four U.S. towns. In Claudville, Virginia, for example, public-school students and local businesses in the 25-square-mile community have free access to high-speed broadband. The first Super Wi-Fi gear, including dual-mode Wi-Fi/Super Wi-Fi routers, will most likely arrive by 2014. Mobile manufacturers may begin installing Super Wi-Fi chips in devices late next year, and will release dongles that will upgrade older products.
In a Passpoint and Super Wi-Fi world, a user within a short drive of a city or town could have instant, ultrafast Internet access without having to rely on cellular service. Business travelers could use their laptops without cellular USB dongles, tablets wouldn't need power-hungry 3G and 4G radios, and a Skype account could practically replace a phone line. At the very least, Wi-Fi could absorb a lot of the data poised to choke networks, leaving phones to fulfill their primary purpose: making calls.
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