Mobile broadband is increasing in popularity rapidly and this is largely due to the fact that it is not restricted by any of the traditional difficulties which face fixed line broadband connections. It is the only truly wireless broadband option for consumers, relying on 3G networks to provide download speeds of 3.6Mbps to 10Mbps or more depending on the technology involved and other factors. In Europe mobile broadband has taken of slightly faster than anywhere else, but the USA has a variety of competing cellular providers who all offer mobile broadband via the standard format of the USB dongle.

Though 3G networking is the current standard for mobile broadband, this will be changing over the next few years as 4G, or the fourth generation of mobile internet standards, is brought into the consumer market. 3G has been updated from its initial release, with HSDPA allowing for faster download speeds, though not many network providers actually take full advantage and in its current state 3G connections can rarely live up to the promises of the marketing and the theoretical maximum download speeds which they are said to be capable of.

4G will hopefully change all that, though it is important to remember that 4G is an umbrella term that will eventually incorporate a variety of different technologies. The basic definition of 4G is that is must refer to a wide area wireless network that is capable of offering at least 100Mbps download speeds for mobile users, whilst 1Gbps could be ideally attainable for static use. Before 4G becomes widely available, another augmentation of 3G technology, referred to at LTE (Long Term Evolution), will arrive. This will offer the potential for 100Mbps maximum download speeds along with 50Mbps upload speeds, though like current 3G technology the real life performance is expected to be lower.

Another technology that may well fall under the 4G branding in some instances is WiMAX. This should be thought of as a larger scale equivalent to the current Wi-Fi technology that is built into many laptops and mobile phones. WiMAX services will be able to offer performance that is similar to LTE, with 128Mbps download speeds achievable on paper for mobile customers. Again a 1Gbps transfer rate is the goal with this technology as well and people using their mobile broadband connections on a laptop in a fixed location will be able to access the internet at this higher speed.

With mobile broadband technology always advancing, it is worth considering just how these faster speeds will affect what is possible for the average consumer. At the moment with most only able to connect to the internet at 2Mbps with even the more expensive broadband packages, much of the best that the internet has to offer is unavailable. However, with faster speeds come vast improvements in entertainment, education and communication. HD video streaming, VoIP calling, online gaming and hundreds of other web-based services will be opened up with mobile broadband in the future and it is only with faster download and upload speeds that any of this can become possible.