Mobile Broadband in Cars – A Viable Option

In the 80s and early 90s it was a fairly common site in the wealthier areas of the country to see some merchant banker driving along and yapping on his retrospectively oversized handset attached by pigtail wire to the centre console of his BMW or Jaguar. However, the mobile phone quickly became a thing for the common man, and since its use was banned in vehicles, car manufacturers have been working in tandem with mobile companies to get the mobile phone safely back in the motoring environment.

Some cars in the past have come with SIM card readers, but that was soon outdated when the use of Blue Tooth allowed you to turn your car’s speaker system into a massive hands free kit. However, now with the help of 3G networking technology, mobile internet has entered the age of broadband, and there are several applications that motorists may be very interested in. Buy what is mobile broadband and how could it work in a car?

Mobile Broadband Internet Connection Requires No Land Line

Mobile broadband is an internet connection that requires no land line and operates over the latest generation of mobile networking technology just as you would find in modern mobile handsets with internet access. It allows download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps on certain networks and in certain areas, and it can be used anywhere up and down the country that has 3G high speed network coverage.

Mobile broadband requires a USB dongle which contains a receiver and a modem as well as all the software you’ll need to connect to the mobile broadband network, and is provided by most of the existing mobile networks as well as BT. However, some modern laptops are coming with built in mobile broadband connectivity, usually the small ‘netbook’ varieties which are designed to be used as word processors and for accessing the internet.

You Don’t Need a USB Dongle

This means that you won’t need a USB dongle, and having a built in modem and receiver unit for your car is the next logical step. This will allow you to access the internet in its entirety from anywhere in the country whilst you’re on the road, looking up travel information, booking hotels and flights and checking the latest sports scores whilst you’re laid up in a service station on the M6. You could conceivably have a port to connect your laptop to your car in order to surf the web in that manner should you so desire, and the freedom of mobile broadband combined with the freedom of the car are designed to form some kind of partnership in the future.

Mobile broadband is useful for more than just checking your email. You can access any of the services that you would normally expect from a desktop PC connected to a land line broadband connection, and unlike Wi–Fi you’re not limited to a few small hot spots in cities or in cafés. And since you don’t need a land line there’s no need to pay monthly line rental, which is especially useful if you’re renting or a student and don’t want to commit to a long contract or have to pay for a line to be installed.

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This page was last updated
Friday, 28-Jan-2011

Mobile Broadband — Internet Connection From Within Your Car