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The majority of modern cell phones can access the web in some shape or form, but this can often be an unsatisfactory experience for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important factor is the connection speed that your phone is capable of. The 4 main types of web connection that are currently available to mobile phone users are GPRS, EDGE, 3G, and HDSPA.
GPRS is the slowest of them all, and is a hangover from the 2G phone technology of the 90s. Although it can theoretically reach maximum data rates of 128kbps, which is roughly equivalent to dial up speeds, in practice the average rate is closer to 30 or 40 kbps, which is next to useless for all but the most basic, text only web services. EDGE was once the fastest 2G connection available, and could theoretically achieve data rates which put it in the 3G category, but the arrival of the 3G standard a year after its introduction ensured that virtually no mobiles were ever made that use this protocol.
Hyped upon its release as the mobile version of Broadband, the 3G mobile standard was the one that finally made surfing the web possible on mobile phones, albeit at speeds which were more akin to those of dial up connections than the speedy broadband connections consumers had become accustomed to.
HDSPA, an update to the 3G standard, is the fastest yet, and can claim a theoretical maximum speed of 14.4Mbps, although in reality, it only offers a slight speed improvement over a standard 3G connection. However, once the old 2G transmitters are taken down, as they already have been in Japan, then we can expect to see an improvement in the performance of 3G and HDSPA connections.
While mobile internet still has some way to go before it becomes a genuinely smooth experience, the Wi Fi standard has been around a lot longer, is a lot more reliable, and is capable of far greater speeds. Therefore, you may be pleased to learn that some phones, such as the BlackBerry and the Nokia N97, are capable of accessing the internet using this protocol.
However, Wi-Fi is not available everywhere, and if you want to use it, you often have to pay for it by the hour.
It is important to remember that the majority of websites have been designed for use with a computer, although there are some websites that have special slimmed down versions for mobiles, such as eBay and Facebook. Most mobile phones have a screen that is really too small to be able to view standard web pages on, and lack the controls necessary for proper navigation.
Some of the newer smart-phone PDAs have tackled this problem with large touch sensitive screens and tracker balls, which at least lessen the resolution and navigation problems inherent in surfing the web on a mobile phone.
However, few of them can deal with having multiple windows, and some popular sites are completely inaccessible to mobile phones for coding and copyright reasons.
The mobile internet may have a bright future ahead of it, but it cannot be said to be quite there yet, although things are improving steadily.
Discover the latest Vodafone mobiles and services including mobile broadband that lets you connect to the Internet whenever you want.
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