HP Compaq AirLife 100 series - Manual (Page 104)

Data connection types
Your AirLife supports different types of 2G and 3G connection standards over cellular networks as
well as Wi-Fi. The table below provides brief information about the connection standards supported
by your AirLife and the features each standard provides:
Connection Standard Technology Generation Supports Data
HSPA 3.5G Yes
UMTS 3G Yes
EDGE 2.75G Yes
GPRS 2.5G Yes
GSM 2G No
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
(Supports channels 1–13)
Yes
HSPA
High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), also known as 3.5G, is an enhancement of UMTS which is
based on 3G technology, and offers faster data speeds. Your AirLife supports HSPA from 3.6 to
7.2 Mbps for high speed downloads and 2 Mbps for high speed uploads. AirLife also supports HSPA
over four different frequency bands (850/900/1900/2100). When HSPA is available, AirLife uses that
technology and reverts back to UMTS or GSM/GPRS/EDGE if HSPA is unavailable.
UMTS, 3G & WCDMA
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile
telecommunications technologies, which is also being developed into a 4G technology. The most
common form of UMTS uses WCDMA. UMTS is a complete network system, it covers the radio
access network (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network, or UTRAN), the core network (Mobile
Application Part, or MAP), as well as authentication of users via USIM cards (Subscriber Identity
Module). Unlike EDGE, UMTS requires new base stations and new frequency allocations, but it is
closely related to GSM/EDGE because it borrows and builds upon concepts from GSM. Most UMTS
devices support GSM. The name UMTS is usually used in Europe. Outside of Europe, the system is
also known by other names, but is often just referred to as 3G.
GPRS/EDGE
The GPRS/EDGE technology enables the cellular network to be used for messaging, to access a
corporate network, or the Internet.
NOTE: EDGE is an enhancement to GPRS technology and enables higher speed data connections
than GPRS. This means faster phone multimedia capabilities such as sending and receiving SMS/
MMS messages, and sharing video clips. Check with your service provider to see if they support
EDGE technology. If your service provider does not support the EDGE network, the AirLife defaults to
GPRS.
96 Chapter 17 Data connection