The connection conundrum: 3G or Wi-Fi?

"The initial tariff for Vodafone 3G isn't priced for the mass-market international traveller," he says, adding that it can cost up to £5 to download a megabyte of data when roaming. "For a 5MB Powerpoint presentation, that can be an expensive exercise."

Also charging users for the amount of data they download isn't sustainable, adds Bubley. "There is a market for cellular data if it's priced correctly, which means flat rate. I'm very sceptical that pricing per megabyte will be successful."

Vodafone offers several tariffs, starting with £10 per month for 5MB of data. Users who exceed their tariff limit will be charged extra, so companies won't be able to predict exactly how much they are going to be charged. Our testing showed that users could be unpleasantly surprised by how much data they transmit while surfing, running instant-messenger programs or connecting to a virtual private network link.

The choice is yours
So, 3G or Wi-Fi? Or both? Murphy and Stonadge argue that the technologies are complementary, even though both give high-speed connectivity, and that users will soon be able to buy packages that include 3G and Wi-Fi.

"The key is one-bill roaming, covering both Wi-Fi and 3G," says Murphy, who claims such a service could be available in the UK later this year.

Although Vodafone plans to launch a card that integrates both 3G and Wi-Fi within months according to Stonadge, Bubley is sceptical of users enjoying the "seamless" merging of 3G and Wi-Fi any time soon. "Seamless connectivity is very important, and virtually impossible to get right. The idea of having faultless handoff from one tech to another without user awareness is very unlikely," he says.

Given this warning, some companies may prefer to hold off from either Wi-Fi or 3G until both technologies are bundled together, especially those firms whose employees don't have to access corporate systems. "For someone who wants plain vanilla web access, such as email and downloading pdf files from the Web, it's much easier to just go to an Internet cafŽ," says Bubley.

Those chasing a competitive advantage, or keen to get their remote access sorted, face a trickier decision. 3G is particularly suitable for people who spend large amounts of time working in other people's offices, says Stonadge.

"There are a number of cases where the broader wireless coverage of 3G is better than Wi-Fi. The classic case is that of a consultant who spends a lot of their day at customer sites, which typically don't have Wi-Fi," said Stonadge.

But IT managers must consider the issue on a case-by-case basis, warns Bubley. "If you need ubiquitous access to your servers and are on the move a lot, the cellular side is attractive. But, if there are a couple of locations you go to regularly, it could be that Wi-Fi is best," he says. "You need to look at the question on a case-by-case basis, looking at the applications and devices that will be used, and traffic and usage patterns."