Opinion: Wi-Fi -- Too Little, Too Expensive
B>By Chris Wolfe
I>President
ualcomm Wireless Business Solutions
While Wi-Fi is a useful technology, many people fail to realize the magnitude of the investment that would be needed in order to make it accessible over wide areas of the country.
Where Wi-Fi is available, we call it a “hot spot.” Based upon a rule that Wi-Fi installers use, a typical hot spot covers about 25,000 square feet.
Based on this calculation, it would take 1,000 hot spots to cover one square mile. If we have approximately 150,000 hot spots currently deployed in the United States, the total geography covered equals 10% of Rhode Island.
On top of this, most hot spots charge for access and have unique security requirements. Recently, a friend of mine who is a savvy traveler went from coast to coast. Wherever he stopped, he used the available Wi-Fi hot spot.
His story would be too long for this column, but suffice it to say that the availability, complexities and costs associated with using Wi-Fi nearly cost him his sanity.
So what are truck drivers to do? What truck drivers need is high-speed Internet access virtually anywhere they might stop, enabling them to stay connected to work, family and to conduct personal business.
How many times have you seen trucks parked near the beach, at a roadside rest stop or waiting to get into a shipper’s or consignee’s facility? Wouldn’t it be great if there were some way for the driver to jump onto the Internet from virtually anywhere?
Well, there are wireless technologies already deployed that offer great geographic coverage and easy connectivity for a reasonable price. Both Verizon Wireless and Sprint offer third-generation (3G) digital wireless connectivity today.
Data speeds on these two networks are in the 50-90 kilobytes-per-second range — nearly 65% more than a typical dial-up connection, and more than adequate for everyday Internet use.
Verizon Wireless is already enhancing its network in order to deliver 300-600 kbps on average — with peak data rates up to 2.4 megabytes per second.
es, Wi-Fi published rates are much higher, but let’s not forget that the advertised data rates of Wi-Fi are not always what they appear.
This usually is caused by the local provider having a limited data-rate connection from its facility to the Internet backbone. So no matter how fast the data connection is to your laptop, the limiting factor will be this backbone connection.
While Wi-Fi offers faster data speeds than third-generation networks, the lack of coverage, hidden costs and complex security hinders truck drivers from getting the most utility for their dollar. It is not uncommon for a 3G user to get on the Web when he or she gets off a plane and stay connected while riding across town in a taxi and checking into a hotel.
Today, you can take a road trip to Las Vegas from San Diego and access the Internet and e-mail the entire trip (yes, as a passenger). This isn’t just a “California phenomenon” or science fiction. It is being repeated every day in almost every region of the country.
So, which technology will win in the long run? The answer is simple — both. Wi-Fi is very good when the majority of access is being done in close proximity, like scanning bar codes in a warehouse, laptop access in a coffee shop or office — or perhaps a truck driver at a company-owned facility or truck stop. Third-generation wide-area wireless is, and will continue to be, the technology of choice for workers on the move where the need for coverage meets the road.
Qualcomm WBS, San Diego, is one of the four major divisions of Qualcomm Inc. and is a vendor of communications products and services to trucking and other transportation industries.
This story appeared in the April 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
