Mobile carriers are exploring VOIP via WiFi.


I tried this myself: calling via VOIP thru a wireless connection. 

Actually, I’ve also tried using data connections over GPRS via a

regular GSM network, so I can say I tried what either world has to offer.  Both worked very well.  Data-over-GPRS

is not as fast as broadband, but is at par or even better than

dialup.  WiFi VOIP was very clear, crisp, and fast.  After

all, WiFi connections are fast, even by wired standards.  802.11B

has a max throughput of about 11Mbps, and that can carry voice signals

very well.  802.11G does even better at 54+ MBPS.


Cool huh?  Hence, I can make VOIP calls at a

WiFi hotspot somewhere at the mall, at a hotel cafe (like what I’m

doing right now), or at the office.


But it ends there, for now at least.  WiFi range is so limited

that it may be pointless to altogether adopt the technology for

widespread use at this point.  We may as well wait for better

technologies to come, such as WiMax,

a longer-range implementation of wireless LAN.  By then we can

expect convergence in the mobile telephony and wireless LAN arena.


Or, an early form of adoption would be for wireless carriers to route

voice calls made on their regular cellular networks over VOIP.  An

inexpensive option, IMHO, but very good if implemented well.


For now, we’d have to wait for the first movers to do just that: make the first move into this exciting realm!


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