Why don't laptops have built in cell phones?

[Floogeldy]

Or maybe some do and I haven't noticed.

Also, what's the deal with wireless internet? Does that mean satellite, or cell phone technology, or what?

[BigMcLargehuge]

1. I can answer these questions in excruciating detail

please tell me if you need more information than what I've typed below:

1. Why don't laptop computers have built in cell phones?

It's impractical considering the way cell phones are used to incorporate those features into something as large as a laptop, even small laptops are too large to use as a traditional telephone. Also, it would require powering up the laptop, or leaving it powered all the time, to be an effective phone. Also, it's a question of standards. Cellular phone standards are governed by two distinct bodies, the IETF and the UTF who determine the protocols, components, and interoperability of all the phones produced in the world today. Computer standards are less rigorous but fall under the jurisdiction of the IEEE. Both cell phones and computers must adhere to strict broadcast guidelines set by the FCC (in this country) and the UTF in Europe. There are three competing digital technologies used for multiple user access in a cell phone network, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), these communications protocols do not intercommunicate and equipping a laptop with one protcol or another would restrict the owner to which carriers could support their embedded cellular technology. However, one of the important features of cellular telephony carried over from modern wirelines service is portability, that is, the ability to take your number from one carrier (and protocol) to another. Having the cell technology embedded in a laptop would make this impractical it not impossible as to change carriers you would need to change laptops.

There are two ways around this, both related solely to the transmission and reception of data in a wireless environment, CDPD and the 802.11 family of wireless protocols. CDPD offered users a stunning 14.4k analog wireless experience via a PMCIA card installed in their laptops (like an Ethernet card if it's not build into the board now) and allowed access to a portion of the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) network. However as carriers have moved away from analog wireless telephony and embraced digital transmission the CDPD standard is all but extinct.

Wireless is not most often handled by the 802.11 family of standards for wireless Local Area Networking (LAN) and the 802.16 2004 standard for Wirless Metropolitcal Area Networking. What separates these standards is power level, implementation, and spectrum allocation. Where 802.11 and its variants operate in the 2.4-3.2 GHz range, 802.16 2004 spans the spectrum from 2-11 GHz. These ultra-high-frequency channels allow for mobility by using multi-in-multi-out (MIMO) antennas and multipath (signals that bounce around obstructions) but uses the same packet structure as older fixed wireless networks.

An 802.16 Wireless Metropolitan Area Network uses antennas spaced throughout a city to offer sectorized covered akin to a traditional cellular network.

[Aiptasia]

2. what he said!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

3. Do you work in the wireless world?

You know so much about it!

[BigMcLargehuge]

5. I just wrote three courses for my company

Understanding 802.11 protocols and procedures
Understanding Basic Wireless Technology
Understanding 802.16 WIMAX

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. Cool-I could use that information

I work in wireless security....

[Floogeldy]

9. Yikes!

Uh . . . thanks! :)

[Ready4Change]

4. Wireless, in my case...

In my home I have a wireless access point. That is basically a network hub or switch. But instead of a bunch of network cables running into it, it has an antenna. My laptop, with it's own antenna, can connect to my home network using radio signals, via that access point.

(Edit: my access point is of the 802.11 variety mentioned in the other post above.)

Now, add in that my home network is connected to a cable modem, which gives any computer on my network access to the internet.

With those two things, can now walk anywhere inside my house and browse the web with my laptop, without worrying about wires. The 802.11 range isn't very long. I can't connect very well in my garage, for example, nor very well out in my backyard.

In many places there are now "hot spots", which are wireless access points provided by various vendors. For example, many coffee houses have them. You generally need to sign up and pay for access there, at rates that vary from free to $10 an hour.

I love the freedom it gives me in my house. I've used it at hot spots during some trips I've taken, but it felt more gimmicky than useful. Each time I've had to sign up for a different service, transmitting my credit card number etc. Doesn't seem very secure, and is certainly inconvenient.

I keep hearing that there are hotels that provide wireless access, but I've yet to encounter one. I have found that most Apple retail outlets have open and free web access. One in my area is next to a nice coffee shop, which is a real bonus.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

11. Most hotels I go to on business have wireless now

Even the crappy Best Western I stayed in during a trqade show in Atlanta had wireless.

Wireless networks aren't very secure, BTW. Hackers can push malicious codeonto your computer this way.

[rndmprsn]

6. actually they do...VOIP (voice over IP) Phone

http://www.skype.voipvoice.com/shop/Default.asp

damn cool...i use skype quite a bit

[BigMcLargehuge]

8. this isn't built in cellular technology

this is Voice over Internet Protocol. It can use a wireless connection to an 802.11 network to carry voice, but 802.11 doesn't offer packet prioritization the way the wireline network does. You also can't use this to connect to a traditional cellular network. VoIP solutions also would not work well in an 802.16 network as that network type manupulates delay and reflection to offer mobility. Both of those are like kryptonite to packetized voice.

VoIP has been around for years and relies on the wireline infrastructure to work properly. To day no one produces either standard gateway/gatekeepers or MEGACO gateway for cellular networks.

[rndmprsn]

13. yes yes yes...either way its cool

[Kellanved]

7. there were notebooks with built-in GSM phone

The Gericom 1st Supersonic for instance.

Edit: they are considered obsolete now, as WLAN is faster than GRPS and readily available in all cities.

[Book Lover]

12. Sure - they're called Treo's

OK, smarmy reply aside, other posters above have mentioned VoIP, which is just as good. Or are you looking, from an industrial design POV, for a full-sized laptop that you can dis-attach a cell-phone-sized cell phone from?