<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Digital cell phones a.k.a. &amp;amp;#34;smartphones&amp;amp;#34; are useful Internet client devices. If connected to your computer properly, they can also function as a general-purpose &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/networking-cell-phones-and-wireless-modems-817461&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;network modem&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;. Using your cell phone as a modem provides a way to get portable Internet connectivity when all other options like &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-wifi-816557&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Wi-Fi&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; hotspots fail. Unfortunately, the performance of these cellular network connection may not meet a person&amp;amp;#39;s needs.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The theoretical maximum network data transfer rate supported by a cell phone modem varies depending on the communication standards your &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/choosing-broadband-phone-service-provider-817809&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;3&amp;quot;&amp;gt;phone service&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; supports.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;Performance Across Generations of Cellular Technology&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Modern cell network technologies fall under the &amp;amp;#34;3G&amp;amp;#34;, &amp;amp;#34;3.5G&amp;amp;#34; or &amp;amp;#34;4G&amp;amp;#34; classifications. These include &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/definition-of-lte-broadband-817465&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;4&amp;quot;&amp;gt;LTE&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/high-speed-packet-access-817467&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;5&amp;quot;&amp;gt;HSPA&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/ev-do-internet-access-818320&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;6&amp;quot;&amp;gt;EV-DO&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, and &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;EDGE&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;. &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-3g-3426465&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;7&amp;quot;&amp;gt;3G technologies&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; offer roughly between 0.5 Mbps and 4 Mbps for downloads. 3.5G and 4G offer up to 10 Mbps (and sometimes even higher) for downloads.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In contrast, older cell technologies (rapidly becoming obsolete in more developed parts of the world) like GPRS (generally considered as &amp;amp;#34;2.5G&amp;amp;#34;), CDMA and GSM offer lower speeds around 100 Kbps or lower, similar to the performance of an analog &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/definition-of-dial-up-817779&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;8&amp;quot;&amp;gt;dial-up&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; Internet modem.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The performance (and also the quality) of cell connections varies significantly across service providers, geographic locations, and load (number of active subscribers) at a given location. For these reasons, average or peak network speeds often do not apply.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;Theoretical vs. Actual Cell Modem Performance&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;As with many networking standards, users of cell phone modems should not expect to achieve this theoretical maximum in practice. The actual &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-bandwidth-p2-818121&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;9&amp;quot;&amp;gt;bandwidth&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; you will enjoy depends on several factors:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Quality of the phone&amp;amp;#39;s wireless signal (typically, the distance away from the nearest cell tower)&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Competing network traffic on the cell phone provider network&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Version of the network communication protocol employed by the provider, along with any technical limitations or extensions they implement&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Mix of upstream and downstream traffic you generate (cell phone modems support less bandwidth for uploads than for downloads)&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Also, consider that the &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/computer-network-speed-818118&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;10&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;amp;#34;speed&amp;amp;#34; of any network&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; depends not only on the\u00A0amount of supported bandwidth but also on its latency. A cell phone modem suffers from very high &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.lifewire.com/latency-on-computer-networks-818119&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;11&amp;quot;&amp;gt;latency&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; given the nature of its open-air communications. When using your cell phone as a modem, you should expect to see sluggish delays and bursts of data transmission, that lower the perceived speed of your connection even further.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.lifewire.com/how-fast-is-a-cell-phone-modem-818317>