Wireless Internet is not the same as wired

There have been many recent reports in the news about disgruntled iPhone users who are complaining about slow Internet access across the AT&T network. They are surprised that the wireless Internet does not seem to work as consistently as the wired Internet. According to one report I just saw on TV, there are now 9 million iPhones on the AT&T network, many of which are being used in urban areas. AT&T is spending billions to beef up its network but it takes time to increase capacity.

I have been talking about the differences between wired and wireless Internet access for a long time, as have many others, but I guess this is like everything else--until you come face to face with the issue, you tend to not believe it can be true. The biggest complaints, of course, are coming from those who do not understand that there is a difference in capacity between wired and wireless and have been told by Internet companies that the wireless Internet would be just like the wired Internet.

The iPhone provides a variety of capabilities to access the Internet, download applications, music, and videos, plus the ability to stream a video from the Internet as well as to download it. It takes some time to download a video file, but the file ends up on your device so you are not impacting the wireless network when you play it. However, when you are streaming the file, you are eating up bandwidth in the cell sector where you are.

Perhaps understanding a little more about how most cell sites are built will help those who are not wireless experts to understand the issue here. Most cell sites (there are exceptions) are built with three faces or with antennas facing three directions. This provides three pie-shaped coverage areas of 120 degrees each. Further, each cell site is designed to handle normal traffic levels of up to 60 percent or so of their total capacity. Lastly, the system is designed for mobility, which means that most customers are not expected to remain within the coverage area of a single cell sector for a long time.

If you are the only person within a cell sector who is accessing the Internet you have virtually all of the data capacity and speed that is supported by that sector. However, as other people are also accessing the Internet from within that cell sector, the capacity becomes shared capacity and the data speed will become slower and slower depending on how many people are using the sector. There are other factors as well. The fastest speeds are obtained when you are closest to the center of the cell (nearer to the antennas). As you move away from the center, at some point (depending on the technology) the data rates will drop off, and in most cases speeds will be very poor at the cell edge.

So there is a combination of data speed differences and capacity demands for each cell sector in a system. AT&T is doing two things, both of which cost billions. First, it is upgrading its 3G network to higher data speeds, which will help with the perceived speed of the Internet to an iPhone as well as provide higher data rates further out toward the edges of the cell coverage area. Next it is adding more 3G sites, but this is where it gets tough. Each time AT&T wants to add a site it has to go through a process that includes identifying where it needs an additional site (based on capacity and coverage requirements), finding a willing property owner and negotiating a lease agreement, and then jumping through the local permit processing hoops.

In some parts of the country this can be accomplished in a short period of time (six to nine months), but in some areas, including many cities and areas in California, this process can drag on for two to three years.

AT&T, like the rest of the networks, WANTS to improve coverage and data speed and is doing everything it can to accomplish this, but there are only two ways to increase capacity: Add more spectrum to an existing cell site, which usually requires a permit, or adding more cell sites closer together, which, as mentioned, is not always a quick and easy process.

But even in the wired world we are beginning to see capacity and speed issues. If you are using a cable modem you are on a shared pipe that includes you and all of your neighbors until you reach the cable TV company's facility. Sometimes, such as right at the end of the school day, you will notice the network slowing down. Even if you have DSL, which is your own pipe back to the wired telco's plant, the pipe that carries all of the DSL traffic and routes it to and from the Internet is a shared pipe. In most cases, the more DSL customers there are in a given area, the greater the chance that there will be some capacity problems.

Whether it is the iPhone's popularity, the time it takes for AT&T to resolve the problem, or the next whiz-bang device, as long as we assume that the wireless Internet is simply an extension of the wired Internet, we will continue to have problems that translate into unhappy customers. We need to become smarter about the wireless Internet--we have smart devices and smart networks--and stop treating wireless as simply another dumb pipe. That attitude will only serve to get us into more trouble going forward.

Andrew Seybold is an authority on technology and trends shaping the world of wireless mobility. A respected analyst, consultant, commentator, author and active participant in industry trade organizations, his views have influenced strategies and shaped initiatives for telecom, mobile computing and wireless industry leaders worldwide. Register today for Andrew Seybold Wireless University. The conference will be held Oct. 6^th, the day prior to CTIA Wireless I.T.  & Entertainment 2009 in San Diego. For information click here.