It was some time last month when the talk of slow Internet speed popped up again. I was in the middle of delivering a session for IELTS candidates when one of them said her slow connection couldn't get her into a breakout room for group discussions.
This led me to think how greatly teachers and students depend on a functional Internet connection for remote lessons. Frustratingly, we're in the age of 5G but most of us are still struggling with having access to a good-quality, consistent 4G window to the Worldwide Web.
Just how can we ensure our connections are 'good enough' to deliver online lessons as EFL teachers?
- Mode - there are two ways of getting fast Internet at your home. You can choose broadband through rental of your fixed landline - if the telco provider which you choose has already installed optic-fibre cables in your local area. The old-school copper cables can't transmit data signals fast enough for modern-day use.
If renting a fixed line isn't your cup of tea, choose mobile Internet - you'll need a hotspot tethering device as a modem (e.g. your smartphone or purpose-made 'mobile Wi-Fi' devices) to connect to the 3G/4G network.
- Internet speed - consider asking your tech-literate neighbours about the quality of their network. Preferably they're with a different mobile network provider so that you can make comparisons. Downlink (download speed) should ideally be above 10 Mbps and uplink (upload speed) above 3 Mbps.
- Data limit - shop around for the best pay-as-you-go or pay monthly option. Roughly speaking, an hour's lesson can consume anything between 500 MB and 1 GB. Beware of 'unlimited data' plans because some cheaper ones come with a limit on the Internet speed.
What's Mbps?
8 megabits per second (Mbps) = 1 megabyte (MB) per second
Your computer uses the latter unit of measurement for file size calculations: KB, MB, and GB.
What are 3G, 4G, and 5G? Simplified answer:
The 'G' stands for generation. Think of your smartphone as a radio signal receiver. The mobile network providers use towers to emit radio signals; when these signals reach your phone, a connection is established.
1G is the stone-age way of radio signal transmission. You don't have to worry about it in this context.
2G (GSM) is the analogue way for voice and text messages.
2.5G (GPRS) is an upgrade of 2G's GSM standard - the start of 'Internet on phones' with data being transmitted in packets of radio signals.
2.75G (GPRS+) makes data packet transmission faster.
3G (HSPA) raises the top download speed to 21 Mbps.
3.5G (HSPA+) raises the top download speed to 42.2 Mbps.
4G is in effect 3.75G (LTE) raises the speed again. It still uses 2G-type infrastructure to transmit radio signals and gets swiftly overwhelmed by the amount of smartphones and devices connecting to the network.
4.5G (LTE-A) is an attempt to raise the speed without using entirely new infrastructure to transmit radio signals (sort of!).
5G requires new infrastructure to allow high-capacity packets of radio signals to be transmitted. The only problem is that the radio signals can't be transmitted far and wide. There's a trade-off between speed and distance. To be honest, it's unlikely for 5G to be made widely available outside metropolitan areas since we'd need to build radio towers at every 250 or 300 metres!
Interesting facts:
- Public vending machines still use 2G technology to send automatic text messages to a vendor's office when drinks or food are sold out. This is now being upgraded to 3G technology as some countries have decided to phase out 2G.
- The marketed 'maximum download speed' assumes when you're right next to a radio tower and your device is the only one connected to it. The real download speed you get at home is multiple times slower. For example, my nearest tower should be an LTE-A type at 350 Mbps, but I'm getting 30-35 Mbps downlink and 15-20 Mbps uplink.