Mobile internet how does it work

It will remain live as an archive, but some of the information may be out of date. In we will be migrating some of the content to Tactical Tech's other websites, so please stay tuned!

We use the Internet and mobile phones on a daily basis. But how do they work? Read some short descriptions here. Devices, such as computers, connect to each other and form a network. Each network is connected to other networks, which are connected to each other through electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies. Various types of hardware, such as an ethernet network card or a modem, convert our device's binary packet data into network signals and then back into packet data.

Transmission Control Protocols TCP are used to direct packets to specific applications on a computer using a port number. Application Protocols are specific to applications such as www.

In short, the Internet is an international network of networks which operates based on protocols which handle and transmit packets of data. A single device is assigned an address when it connects to the Internet: an Internet Protocol IP address. This address distinguishes our device in the network from all other devices. However, our national ISP can only connect us directly to servers located in our country.

If we want to connect to servers located in a different country, then we need that country's ISP to connect us to those servers. In both cases, we need an address, a system which handles our letters and a letterbox. But if you're out in a rural area, you may be limited to simply making phone calls or browsing the Web at dial-up speeds.

With BroadbandConnect, you can send e-mails, instant messages, browse the Web at speeds between and Kbps, watch TV shows, and even record and share live video during a phone call. Right now, that's confined to the nation's largest cities. If you're outside of that coverage area, you can still access some data services like e-mail, text messaging and Web browsing, but at speeds between 75 and Kbps.

Sprint and Verizon's services are the same. With Sprint's mobile broadband service, you can use your cell phone to send e-mails, listen to streaming radio stations, download songs and music videos, watch live TV, share photos, play games and browse the Web at speeds between Kbps and 1. On the fringes of these coverage areas are mobile broadband roaming areas, which offer limited multimedia and data services.

Even further outside major cities is the regular Sprint nationwide cellular network, with basic data services and connection speeds between 50 and 70Kbps, similar to dial-up. What you pay to access these mobile broadband networks depends on what device you're going to use. There are four basic options for connecting to a 3G network:. For each of these options, the cellular providers offer several different mobile broadband payment plans. There's usually an option for unlimited monthly access, which is the most expensive plan.

Another option is to pick a plan that allows for a maximum amount of data transfer a month. To give you an idea of what that means, Verizon says you could send 1,, e-mails a month before reaching 5GB, or look up nearly 35, Web pages [source: Verizon]. Cellular providers generally package their mobile broadband services for cell phone users. You pay extra for these packages on top of your regular calling plan.

Or you can sign up for an all-inclusive plan that gives you a certain amount of anytime minutes per month, plus unlimited mobile broadband usage. With a PDA or smartphone, you can choose from unlimited or maximum data usage plus a voice-calling plan. If you don't want to sign up for a monthly plan, you can actually pay by the kilobyte of data transfer.

Sprint, for example, charges three cents a kilobyte for mobile broadband access without a monthly plan. Mobile broadband is a brand new technology, so expect to pay a premium to use it. Like all cellular services, mobile broadband requires a one- or two-year contract.

If you're going to use a cell phone for mobile broadband access, you might also need to buy a new phone. Cellular providers require that you use certain phones to access certain services. And if you don't sign up for an all-inclusive voice and data plan, then you'll have to sign up for some kind of voice plan in addition to the mobile broadband contract. The nice part is that the cellular providers often offer steep rebates and discounts when you buy a phone with a voice or data plan.

Some phones and PC cards are even free after all of the instant discounts, online savings and mail-in rebates. Make sure you read your mobile broadband contract closely and pay attention to all of the surcharges and taxes that apply. Let's talk about a few of them:. Some mobile broadband services have roaming areas that extend into parts of Mexico and Canada. Generally, if you use data or mobile broadband services within one of these extended roaming areas, you'll be charged an extra fee based on a set price per kilobyte or megabyte of data transfer.

Through this network information is passed to and from a wirelessly enabled device. Early cell phones passed only voice data, but just as your telephone and cable lines can carry any kind of data, a cell phone network can carry any kind of data as well. Thus, a cell phone network can carry any digital information including text, encoded pictures and video.

Early Internet-enabled phones had tiny screens and virtually no graphical capabilities. Internet access was used primarily for the delivery of email. A cell phone user could also check sports scores or get headline news feeds. Longer articles would have been nearly impossible to read and pictures or video were unavailable.

Not only could the network not carry data fast enough, cell phones also couldn't display it. With increases in broadband cellular Internet access came parallel improvements in cell phone devices. Cell phones evolved into smartphones which, with more advanced display and interactive features, were more suited to the improved networks.