Techy odds and ends

Or, How To Spend Lots Of Money And Then Pay For Your Mobile Calls Twice There's no denying that this product can be of use if you're in the unfortunate position of needing 3G coverage from Vodafone UK and from no other operator. If this is the case and you have a decent enough broadband connection then this product will certainly fit the bill. There is, however, a more sinister side to it in that the business model used to place it on the market do leave a little to be desired. Let me elaborate... What is a femtocell and how does it work? You know those mobile phone towers that everybody wants near enough to have great mobile phone coverage but not in their own back yard? This is one of those that's been very much scaled down both in size and in terms of power output. A big, outdoors mast has its radio tranceivers on the top and equipment in the cabinet at the foot of the mast to connect the signals directly to the operator's backhaul network. This one here has tiny tra...

While people will often be dismissive and give answers like "of course not, you idiot", there's more to it than at first sight. Before an answer can be given for this question, you need to ask yourself who is providing the WiFi. There are three possibilities here: 1) You! This is probably the only case that most people think of when they're giving a dismissive answer. In this setup, you're using a wireless router or a wireless access point to distribute your home broadband internet among several devices such as your desktop computer, laptop, possibly a wireless VoIP phone, and your WiFi-enabled mobile phone. In this instance, your mobile phone is just another device connected to your wireless home network. Any data usage is already paid for in your broadband internet bill. While we all know that mobile network operators would love to bill you even just for thinking about using the phone, they have no way of knowing that you're using your own wireless network a...