We talk all the time about how we live in a wireless world, but when it comes to your most important connection, your home or business Internet, we’re still depending on a complex series of cables that lead to our homes and offices.
Here in New York City, for example, one building might have3g wifi router the latest and fastest Internet service while right next door the residents are stuck with something far slower. And when you move between buildings, you need to schedule anappointment and pay for installation of your Internet service.
What if all you needed to do was pick up a wireless modem and plug it in to the wall? Clear, the company behind Sprint’s 4G WiMax network, actually offers a $44.99 unlimited 4G home Internet plan today with a special home modem that doubles as an 802.11n router. And even though neither company offers a 4G plan designed for home users, the speed of T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ network and Verizon’s brand new 4G LTE network 3g wireless routercould make them home or small business options now or in the future. In fact, Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg told investors that his company’s new service could eventually replace home Internet offerings.
We decided to see just how well each of the three major 4G services: Clear/Sprint WiMax, T-Mobile HSPA+, and Verizon LTE would work as a home service so we tried all three in an East Side Manhattan apartment and compared them to our Time Warner Cable home service. For the Clear/Sprint service we used both Clear’s Home modem and the Sprint Sierra Wireless dongle. For T-Mobile, we used the webConnect Rocket stick and, for Verizon, we tested the LG VL600 USB stick. The results we got only apply to one apartment, not the whole city or multiple markets, but they are instructive.