3G offloading to Wi-Fi

[jes]

3G offloading to Wi-Fi

Offloading mobile data traffic into Wi-Fi network is a viable solution to data overload on mobile networks, argues Jasco ICT Solutions MD Mark van Vuuren

 

[FNfal]

What phones would support this seamlessly in the short to medium term ??
And if data traffic is interfering with voice quality them the network is not configured right.
There are hardly any devices that use the 5gig spectrum i surmise he is talking about that.

WIKI
"IEEE 802.11ac is a wireless computer networking standard of 802.11, currently under development (Draft 4.0[1]), providing high-throughput wireless local area networks on the 5 GHz band.[1] Standard finalization is in late 2012, with final 802.11 Working Group approval in late 2013.[1] According to a study, devices with the 802.11ac specification are expected to be common by 2015 with an estimated one billion spread around the world.[2]
Theoretically, this specification will enable multi-station WLAN throughput of at least 1 gigabit per second and a maximum single link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (500 Mbit/s). This is accomplished by extending the air interface concepts embraced by 802.11n: wider RF bandwidth (up to 160 MHz), more MIMO spatial streams (up to 8), multi-user MIMO, and high-density modulation (up to 256 QAM)."
Very interesting and food for thought and development.

 

[SteveO]

It depends on how the operator implements the WiFi offload, essentially all phones with WiFi and a SIM should support WiFi offload seamlessly though.

 

[Sapphiron]

No way.the WiFi spectrum is full enough as it is already. 2.4 and 5ghz.

As final said. They should rather configure their systems right.

 

[Silver-0-surfer]

It depends on how the operator implements the WiFi offload, essentially all phones with WiFi and a SIM should support WiFi offload seamlessly though.

There are standards already 802.11u (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11u#Mobile_cellular_network_off-load_to_Wi-Fi) most wifi vendors are already getting certified for this

 

[SteveO]

There are standards already 802.11u (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11u#Mobile_cellular_network_off-load_to_Wi-Fi) most wifi vendors are already getting certified for this

Yeah, but there are essentially two ways for authentication and billing to exist, thus it depends on how the mtn and Vodacom of this world implement this.

Secondly, these implementations are not ad hoc WiFi nets, but fairly intricately planned specifically to augment the 3G/LTE networks,so fears about the spectrum being overly used are not an issue.if WiFi can be used to cater for 75000+ spectators in a stadium environment, then south Africa's hotspot needs should easily be met while not causing issue for other well planned and existing WiFi networks.