Can Mobile Broadband Replace a Home Connection?

There’s been a significant shift in the technology industry, beginning in 2007. With the smartphone revolution moving at full force, technology shifted away from the PC-driven model most common in the early 21^st century, and became quite intensely focused on mobile, user-driven, and portable devices.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment that things changed. Apple’s iPhone certainly made waves in the mobile phone industry, drawing millions of first-time smartphone users into the industry. The prevalence of netbooks gave hundreds of one-time notebook users the ability to become even more portable. Notebooks themselves, once the height of portability, because slimmer, smaller, and less battery dependent.

The entire world of technology, it seemed, was moving towards being more mobile. It’s not surprising then, that mobile broadband has become the next move in the technology world. Smartphones were once a replacement for basic computing – now they’re quickly becoming a replacement for all desktop computing. With the release of Apple’s iPad, the importance of mobile connections has become even more vital.

The question that’s lingering on everyone’s mind then, is all about mobile broadband’s value for users. Is it any good? Is it fast enough? Most importantly, is it a replacement for a home connection, direct line, and desktop PC?

The answer is a resounding ‘maybe.’ Mobile broadband is a replacement for some of home-based broadband connections. While telecommuters and remote workers will be quick to tell you it’s a complete replacement for at-home computing, it hasn’t quite achieved the same level of speed and simplicity.

However, mobile broadband is constantly improving, unlike the relatively stable and stationary home-based connections we’ve grown used to. What was once simple phone coverage turned into GPRS, which quickly turned into EDGE, and then into 3G. Mobile broadband was once limited – poorly designed WAP browsers and sluggish connections – but now refreshingly quick.

It’s not surprising that thousands of home users are giving up their cheap broadband connection in favour of high-speed mobile broadband. Air cards, tethered smartphones, and entirely mobile computing are now becoming refreshingly commonplace, giving home users and businesspeople a previously unparalleled level of connectivity. The ‘beige boxes’ are gone – replaced with mobile phones and slick 3G-enabled netbooks, tablets, and ultra-portable machines.

But can it replace a direct DSL line? Home users have grown accustomed to a certain level of performance, which in most cases, a mobile broadband connection can replicate. The speed levels of a standard cheap broadband line are easily replaceable, often at a similar (or even lower) monthly cost.

For serious internet users, the situation is slightly different. Mobile broadband can be a replacement, but only given the right circumstances. With a range of mid-band services billing themselves as full ‘broadband’ connections, it’s easy to gain the wrong impression. Mobile broadband is high-speed, often to the point where it will replace an existing home connection.

However, it’s a difficult comparison to make en masse. Like with many other technological trade-offs, this one’s best tested in isolation. Compare mobile broadband with a home connection and you could have a new system to work on, or if not, at least some perspective on the value of your current broadband connection.

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amodiovalerioverde/264864230/