Virgin Media proposes 4G femtocells to ease Wi-Fi woes

While Virgin Media and BT continue to escalate their speed wars, many of us know that getting our internet connection to work around the home at anything more than a stuttering crawl is challenge enough. And it seems Virgin Media is admitting it too.

As the usual mobile suspects (Everything Everywhere (Orange and T-Mobile), Three, Vodafone and O2) prepare their bids for the 4G mobile spectrum auction (no rush lads), it seems the likes of Virgin Media (and perhaps BT) will be bidding too.

As home broadband speeds are going up, there are knock on effects for other technologies along the line – some of which are better prepared for the new challenges than others. According to The Observer, Virgin Media has recognised Wi-Fi may well struggle under the strain – in fact, in some circumstances, it already is – and it sees 4G femtocells as a possible answer.

Wireless overload is already a problem – just ask anyone from hotel owners to those in student halls. With everything from phones and MP3 players to PCs and laptops demanding bandwidth, many Wi-Fi setups are struggling to cope despite broadband heading into the home at up to 100Mb. Getting it to the home is one thing – achieving a consistent and reliable speed to all devices once it’s there is something else.

Enter stage left, the femtocell. These devices have been around for a while now, able to act as personal base stations for homes or businesses for distributing a wireless signal over a small area in a more reliable way.

Of course, with the 4G auction expected in 2012 and the 4G rollout being pushed back to 2013, we advise you not to hold your breath.