Top 10 Wireless Lies

Top 10 Wireless Lies

No one likes being lied to. Or misled. Or fooled. Yet vendors, technologists and others sometimes mislead the market and potential customers in the competition to promote products and services. The word "lie" is harsh, and many will defend their statements by saying their assertions were first qualified elsewhere. But the original source is often difficult to find, and designed to be missed, which reveals that the intent was in fact to mislead.

Daily Wireless has combed through the various promises that the wireless industry has made to customers to call out the top 10 lies (we're grateful there aren't more) and shine a spotlight on the fine print you weren't supposed to see. Many are variations of the same lie, typically unchecked, wishful thinking, but a few are unique and particularly egregious:

1. 3G Runs at 1.2Mbps

When a product is described as supporting 802.11b, it is also described as running at 11Mbps. An 802.11g device is described as running at 54Mbps. The proposed 802.11n standard at 100Mbps. The EVDO and HSDPA 3G technologies are described as running at 1.2Mbps. All lies.

(At least the 1.2Mbps claim for 3G is better than the original 2Mbps claims in 2000-2002 when the technologies were first proposed.)

The reality is that these speeds can be achieved only in extremely rare circumstances. For example, Wifi speeds refer to the maximum throughput of the radio itself in its connections with the rest of the device - not what happens over the air, which is what users care about. Likewise, the promised 3G speeds require you to be a few feet from a cell tower with no other users and no interference, and even then the speed refers to burst mode - a few seconds worth of transmission.

What you actually get is about 10 to 20 percent of the promised speed for Wifi and 20 to 40 percent for 3G.

Vendors have gotten a little better in their speed claims; most carriers now provide more realistic typical speeds in their service detail pages, and Wifi device manuals and back-of-the-box descriptions usually mention that actual performance will differ. And to be fair, because wireless has so many environmental factors that affect speed, it is impossible to come up with a standard typical speed number to promote, which unfortunately brings the marketing back to the theoretical maximums.

While wired broadband providers like DSL and cable companies also cite their technologies' maximum speeds instead of realistic speeds, the truth is that their technologies deliver pretty close to the promised, while the wireless technologies do not.

2. 3G = Hello, Unlimited Data Plans

The 3G service plans aren't cheap, costing $60 to $100 per month for service. One way to justify that cost is to sell the service as “unlimited.” But that’s a clear lie. In fact, 3G services are quite limited, even those claiming to allow unlimited usage. Not that you’ll see this mentioned when you sign up. Instead, you’ll have to go on a treasure hunt.

For example, Verizon Wireless, which has the most widely deployed 3G service in the U.S., has severe restrictions on its unlimited data plans, but you have to scroll to the bottom of a window labeled called Read Additional Calling Plan Information - something added only after customer complaints that started two years ago - to find the many restrictions.

Here’s what Verizon buries:

Unlimited Data Plans and Features (such as NationalAccess, BroadbandAccess, Push to Talk, and certain VZEmail services) may ONLY be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine–to–machine connections or peer–to–peer (P2P) file sharing; or (iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses, continuously for one hour, could typically use 100 to 200 MBs, or, if engaged in prohibited uses for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, could use more than 5 GBs in a month.

Cingular Wireless and Sprint Nextel bury their similar restrictions deep in a Terms of Service link at the bottom of their Web pages. And their limits are more onerous than Verizon's in that you can't use a phone's 3G data plan to give a laptop Internet access. That means you'd need to get two plans, one for your phone and one for your laptop, if you want 3G access on both. We couldn't find any such restrictions on T-Mobile's site, and a spokesman says that's because T-Mobile has none on its unlimited data plans.

The carriers have reason to limit these services: One is that their 3G networks don't yet have the capacity to support a lot of data traffic. The other is that the use of VoIP service reduces the number of minutes they can bill you for, and because it costs them less to provision a voice call than a data call, they have no interest in their customers switching over to data-based VoIP services that they don’t charge you for themselves. But then the plans shouldn't be called unlimited, or at least there should be a note right after the unlimited claim that says restrictions apply, with a link to them. Instead, they're hoping you won't even think to look for restrictions.

3. 802.11n Is Around the Corner

For more than a year, vendors have been selling draft N products that promise faster speeds than the 802.11g Wifi technology, based on a standard called 802.11n. Yet the standard is at least six months away, and most of the last two years have seen two vendor camps battling each other over two very different proposals for delivering on 802.11n's promised faster speeds. The camps didn’t settle on a compromise until spring 2006, well after the draft products were shipping.

Although sold with the promise they could be upgraded to the final 802.11n standard, no one can make that promise honestly, as the final version may be so different than the vendor’s jumping-the-gun version that it can’t be upgraded.

It is true that the products were sold as pre or draft products, so buyers can't easily claim that they were getting the final 802.11n, but the sales pitches have strongly implied that 802.11n was right around the corner and the leap from draft to final would be a small one. The technical folks of course knew how divided the vendors were over the standards and how impossible it was to commit to an unknown outcome. But most buyers had no clue. And the sales folks were happy to sell more products, since the 802.11g profits were slowing as the products became commodities.

4. Metro WiFi Will make Internet Access Free

This may be more wishful thinking than an outright lie. When the first discussions began in 2004 about cities deploying Wifi mesh networks or WiMAX networks to blanket their streets in wireless Internet access, the picture that many pundits, activists, technology providers, and city officials sold was that of free Internet access for its citizenry. The reality is that municipal wireless networks are largely paid services, like commercial competitors’.

To be fair, there are typically a few free areas such as city parks and subsidized access for the poor. So some of the original promise has been maintained. But the basic premise of free computing, perhaps a legacy of a late-1990s movement to wire all schools and libraries so children everywhere would have computer access and the poor would not be trapped behind a digital divide, has not survived. Part of that is due to economic realities: Cities don't have the budgets to build, maintain, and operate these services, or to pay someone else to do it, so they quickly moved to subscription plans meant to cover the costs. And some communications providers - Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T, especially - lobbied and threatened to sue to block municipal plans to offer free or low-cost Internet access that might undercut their profits. They won some legislative and judicial victories and lost others, but cities quickly decided to hire these companies instead of fighting with them.

5. WiMAX is Here

Vendors and pundits have been talking about WiMAX since 2000, so you might be forgiven for thinking it’s here. The reality is that the first WiMax products came out just a year ago, supporting only the use of stationary devices. So there are very few WiMAX systems that exist today. And the standard for Mobile WiMAX that most people think about as WiMAX - supporting mobile devices or laptops in moving vehicles such as trains - is still being finalized, expected sometime in 2007.

Sound familiar?

3G went through its hype cycle in the late 1990s and early 2000s, finally becoming available in a meaningful way in 2006. Various flavors of Wifi have had similar cycles, as has Bluetooth and a whole raft of home networking and Internet-over-power-line technologies that may never even see the light of day. And vendors such as Microsoft and Apple talk about their next operating system months or even years before they are available.

So forgive the WiMAX enthusiasts a little - the whole technology world is quick to hype the newest thing. But it sure does confuse customers.

6. Bluetooth Will Cut the Wires

Remember when everything would have a Bluetooth transmitter, so you wouldn't need all those cables? When PDAs and computers would synch automatically as they came in range, or when people in a room could exchange business cards or other data automatically?

It hasn't quite worked out that way. Bluetooth has gained traction, but mostly as a way to connect cell phones to wireless headsets - a useful thing to be sure, but a pallid version of the original Technicolor promise.

The reason is simple: Bluetooth relies on device profiles to let devices connect. Device profiles vary among devices, and none can know about all others, so incompatibility is a natural result. So Bluetooth has devolved into the wireless version of the cacophony of cables a modern PC has: serial, USB, FireWire, PS/2 and so on.

7. Ultrawideband Will Change Everything

One solution to Bluetooth's incompatibility woes (as well as power consumption woes, which also limits where it can be used) is Ultrawideband, or UWB. Essentially a wireless version of the USB standard, UWB was proposed in 2002 to end the compatibility issues, provide faster transmission speeds than Bluetooth, and use less power.

We're still waiting. One reason is vendor infighting over whose technology prevails (and who therefore gets paid royalties on UWB products). It was no intractable that the vendors agreed to stop trying in 2006, so three camps are now working on three versions: W-UWB, Cwave, and WiMedia. You already know what will happen: none will succeed, or one will succeed after many wasted years. Yes, look for a repeat of the Betamax/VHS and HD-DVD/Blu-ray wars that serve no one.

8. Your Next Car Will Be Wireless Too

Not so fast. Two kinds of telematics - car-based wireless connections - have been proposed for years.

In one case, the car would act as a wireless LAN for laptops, PDAs, even cell phones and be able to act as an information hub for location services. You'd get read-time traffic maps, be able to find the nearest gas station whose brand you prefer or with the best price, listen to e-mail converted to speech, and even let the kids play Internet-based multiuser games in the back seat. A less blanketing version of this involved setting up hot spots at gas stations and along highways to squirt data to a passing car, downloading music, map information, and other information when the car came in range, providing a frequently updated data pool rather than an always-on experience (Mercedes-Benz proposed such a system in 2001, for example.)

The other kind of telematics is more prosaic: transmitting sensor data from the car to a repair shop or dealer so get alerts of impending failures or issues before they become acute. (That same technology would also let parents monitor their kids’ driving speeds and rental companies’ monitor traffic violations and policy violations such as driving into Mexico, something some already do using GPS services.)

Again more of an unrealized dream than an outright lie, telematics has moved slowly. The biggest obstacle is a lack of mobile wireless network, such as WiMAX or pervasive 3G. The “squirt approach suffered from a similar lack of wireless coverage, and it is hard to see the business case for gas stations or even car companies to deploy such a service. Perhaps as WiMAX and 3G get more pervasive - and less expensive - you might be able to add your car to your service plan. Perhaps.

9. Location Services Are Almost Here

A big promise of 3G in 2000-2002 was something called location-based services. Carriers evaluated a trio of technologies that would figure out, within 100 feet, where any cell phone was, based on a federal mandate called E911 meant to help ambulances, police, and firefighters find someone in distress who happened to use a cell phone. Despite several extensions, the carriers still haven't fully complied with E911 mandate, and so any data services based on them - such as looking for the nearest Vietnamese restaurant, or comparing prices for nearby gas stations, or checking out the seasonal offering at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts - haven't happened either. The good news is that mobile coupons - text-message spam, essentially - based on knowing your location haven't happened either.

10. Mobile Payments Are Almost Here Too

Another big promise in the 2000-2002 mobile Internet bubble days was wireless payments through your cell phone. The reasoning was that cell carriers already had a way to get paid, and a cell phone could act as an electronic credit card by transmitting payment data via Bluetooth, RFID, or some other wireless technology to a cash register. The promise gained real traction due to interest in Japan and Europe, where dominant national carriers and banks made the scenario plausible.

But carriers got nervous about being stuck with unpaid bills and managing customer disputes - the kinds of activities that Visa and MasterCard spent years perfecting. And no one really could answer why credit and debt cards needed to be fixed anyhow. The m-payment promise surfaces from time to time, but what's happened instead is an increasing interest by the credit card companies in using wireless technology (RFID in particular) to speed payments for small purchases. Years earlier, Mobil Oil pioneered its RFID-based SpeedPass program to pay at the pump wirelessly, and several bridge and highways systems adopted similar devices that let cars go through an unstaffed tool booth and have their tools deducted after being identified through a wireless signal. Now several banks - Chase, most notably - are promoting debit cards you don't have to swipe (or even enter a PIN for, if the purchase is small enough). They use that RFID technology, embedded in the traditional plastic card.

So, at least in this case, the promise wasn’t real, but something like it ultimately happened.

source: dailywireless.com