Being a computer junkie since my pre-teen days, I’ve been hooked on technology for quite some time now. I’ve been living on dialup connections at home, until up to just a couple of months ago, when I got residential DSL. After all, I got a great broadband connection at work, until I resigned to pursue other things.

In the course of all the years I’ve been connected, I’ve found several cellular-based alternatives to WiFi.

GPRS. General Packet Radio Service, introduced in the early 2000s, was supposed to have rekindled interest in mobile-phone based internet (WAP), but another application was using the mobile phone as a modem. I used to enjoy free Internet-over-GPRS with my cellular plan a few years back. Downside is that GPRS can only get you dialup speeds (about 40Kbps)—at least it was better than 9.6Kbps that regular GSM circuit switched data.

EDGE. An off-shoot of GPRS, EDGE is in essence GPRS multiplied by four. New GSM phones support spanning into multiple GPRS connections. EDGE can reach up to 300 Kbps—near broadband speeds, but not quite good enough by today’s standards.

Not exactly cutting edge by today’s standards (no pun intended), but in areas without WiFi access, cellular can be a good alternative.