Mobile networks are killing Wi-Fi, survey shows

According to foreign media reports, recently, Mansoor Hanif, the chief technology officer of Ofcom in the UK, gave advice to the Wi-Fi industry: either upgrade to 5G or wait to be marginalized. Data from around the world show that this decline has begun. OpenSignal found that in 33 countries, the average speed of mobile networks has exceeded the speed of customer Wi-Fi connections - from Australia, where mobile phone speeds are 13Mbit/s faster than Wi-Fi, to France, where mobile phone speeds are 2.5Mbit/s faster than Wi-Fi.

Ian Fogg, vice president of analytics at OpenSignal, urged mobile networks and smartphone platforms to rethink some basic assumptions. Currently, phones connect to Wi-Fi networks whenever possible, assuming that this will provide users with a better internet connection. But increasingly, that's not the case. All things being equal, more phones will push more users toward a worse experience.

With the advent of 5G, there is a natural tension between networks. Each network is a constrained resource: if someone else's network is less constrained than yours, why wouldn't you choose to move to that network? For the carriers, it makes sense to move traffic to a decent Wi-Fi connection.

This may be necessary for a while. Dean Bubley of Disruptive Wireless told the media that in the early days of 5G, ensuring good indoor coverage will be almost as complicated as calling the Cable Guy. "At 26/28GHz, (you) will need an outdoor unit that connects to an indoor Wi-Fi support center. But it needs power regardless. So either people will need to run cables through the walls of buildings or drill a hole in between them and run Ethernet cable for power. Mount the outdoor antenna on a stand (just like satellite dishes used to be)."

The full report can be found here.