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Activity: GSM/GPRS/3G versus WiFi

Written by: Jonathan Briggs

February 4, 2006 [7028 views]

You need to research the technologies above online and try and answer the following questions.

Print this out and then make notes of the answers before you fill in the online survey. Try and answer them all but if one is particularly hard then move on to the next.

Here is an article as a starting point but you need to find more. Mobile versus WiFi

You will receive marks for taking part in this activity rather than getting it right so it is better to make an intelligent guess than to leave things blank.

Try googling “Wifi Roaming”, “Wifi costs UK”, “introduction 3G” etc.

This activity will probably take about 2 hours.

Here is the link to the survey to feedback your answers

1.How big is the area covered by a WiFi 802.11b hotspot?

2.What is the speed of data transmission for each of the following:

GSM modem speeds?
GPRS data speeds
3G data speeds
WiFi 802.11b
WiFi 802.11g
WiFi Max

3.Why is the speed of data transmission important?

4.How are customers charged for GPRS/3G and what is a typical cost?

5.How are customers charged for access to a public WiFi hotspot and what is a typical cost?

6.How could you use a public WiFi hotspot to make a telephone call?

7.Can you find evidence of Telephone handset manufacturers who are building WiFi compatibility into their handsets?

8.What are the main problems associated with WiFi?

9.What is the difference between trying to use WiFi in a car and providing WiFi for use by train passengers?

10.For each of the following which technology (WiFi, GSM/GPRS or 3G) would you recommend?

Farmer accessing weather forecast in the middle of a field
Wireless Internet access in an airport lounge
Mobile Internet Access in a moving Taxi
Video streaming to a portable device in a museum

11.What questions do you have about these technologies?

Recent comments:

On February 9, 2006 at 4:45 PM, Majid Akbary-Gasany wrote:

I believe answering to these questions is more than just doing a workshop task. I feel like I'm now one step closer to the world of technology I live in.

On February 10, 2006 at 4:00 PM, Nimesh Patel wrote:

Having completed the activity for GSM/GPRS/3G versus WiFi. I think it may be reassuring for students who complete the survey to receive a confirmation e-mail? I am not sure if this process can be automatically done using the current providers of the online surveys.

Jonathan replies: Thanks for the suggestion. At present Zoomerang does not allow me to do that. I will suggest it to them.

On February 11, 2006 at 5:32 PM, Jennifer Hooper wrote:

Having completed the activity. I now realise that I have reached the tip of the iceberg on my knowledge of these technologies and that I must understand them more fully to exploit potential areas of business opportunities in the future.

On October 28, 2006 at 4:28 PM, Conor Caulfield wrote:

Not a student but can't help making a comment . Am currently trialing T-Mob's Web'N'Walk Plus using SE 810i (EDGE compat) as modem for laptop . Thought upto 384Kbps possible . Connection negotiates 115Kbps but actual rate about 50Kbps . Seems up to three slots (3+1) negotiated but only one actually available (1+1) . Comes across as a con . T-Mob no help with tech details , don't even seem to understand basics . Anyone else notice similar ; 115Kbps apparently but a third of that actually ? This is consistent and unlikely due to radio recep , more likely network contention . Clearly not V happy as such speeds severely limit usefulness of phone itself as browser , and phone as modem for laptop . Regards , Conor C .

What do you think?

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This site is an educational resource, a research project and a publication channel written by Jonathan Briggs, Professor of eCommerce at Kingston University.
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