A 3G data card runs only up to 384 kilobits per second - or nearly 30 times slower.The differences are not as marked in practice. WiFi rarely runs at its maximum speed, and the quoted speed refers only to the link between the computer and the hotspot. The link from the hotspot to the internet might well run at just 512 kilobits, scarcely quicker than a 3G card. The mobile operators are currently testing cards that will work at one megabit and beyond.This presents an interesting opportunity for mobile operators. The 802.11b standard for WiFi, used in most hotspots, provides a theoretical maximum speed of 11 megabits per second. This is a price that many businesses are happy to pay for the ability to go online anywhere, not just in a hotspot."A monthly 3G contract can equate to just a few hours' access at a commercial WiFi hotspot," notes Gartner.The argument that WiFi provides better speeds than a cellular connection is looking shaky too.
Operators including Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and O2 have all-inclusive subscriptions designed for business travellers and those who work outside the office.The mobile companies have cut their charges to the point where the gap between a monthly WiFi subscription and a 3G data subscription can be as little as £20. Casual use of a wireless hotspot is expensive, with fees of £5 or more for an hour commonplace. Frequent users find it cheaper to buy a monthly subscription, at around £30 a month.But people who need access to data on the move may find it even better value to subscribe to 3G with one of the 3G mobile networks. The capital has more hotspots than San Francisco, New York or Tokyo, but in other parts of the UK coverage is patchy, with perhaps just one or two caf?in town centres providing the technology to go online.Although operators such as T-Mobile, BT Openzone and The Cloud continue to add new sites to their networks, the hotspot operators face a growing threat from the mobile phone companies.
But a separate survey by the research firm Gartner found that frequent business travellers were largely indifferent to the technology, at least outside the office. Just 17 per cent of those surveyed by the company used a hotspot to go online or connect to corporate networks.Cost and convenience are both barriers. Wireless internet is relatively easy to access in big cities, with London especially well served. On Friday last week, Nintendo announced that gamers will be able to use its consoles for internet gaming, for free, at 7,500 wireless internet "hotspots" across the UK. But a business traveller who wants to use wireless internet to download email either side of a journey from London's Paddington station to Heathrow - just 15 minutes away by train - faces the prospect of paying fees to two separate hotspot operators. Worldwide, some 121 million homes already have wireless networks, according to industry analysts Ovum.