Most of the clients shopping for the ideal wireless internet product that matches their requirements are usually left clueless and with no idea of what to buy mainly because service providers use a lot of mind boggling technical jargon in their service descriptions.

It is a quite a challenge for a would-be silver surfer who wants internet access for internet banking and also send the odd email to her daughter in New Zealand to know if a 3G or HSDPA card would be suitable for her. Given that the majority of internet users are non-technical persons who are intimidated by the jargon that their more technical counterparts love flaunting, the magnitude of the dilemma becomes obvious.

What then is 3G and how does it differ from HSDPA? What is the best option for the home user as opposed to someone whose mission-critical operations are dependent on both mpobility and speed?

3G refers to third generation technology that allows wireless internet access to be provided via cellular networks. The most common and widely used 3G technology is UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). It offers top speeds of up to 384 kpbs in South Africa and it can take between 3-6 seconds to open a single webpage. This is what is commonly known as "3G" and it is the most ideal solution for those who want to use the internet for personal uses like internet banking, checking a few webpages per day and send and receive emails.

The other connection technology is HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access). It is an enhancement to the UMTS 3G technology offering downand it is ideal for users who, among other things, require fast speeds in order to run their online applications, download huge files and hold video conferences. Local service providers are rolling out infrastructure that facilitates download speeds of 3.6 mbps and for example, this means that one can actually download a single MP3 track within a second.

It is clear therefore that the 3G option is the most cost-effective one especially for home users and there are a number of companies who are even flogging refurbished data cards.