Until not long ago, browsing the web from your laptop was limited to doing it from home or from the office, taking advantage of the Wi-Fi connectivity that Internet access gives you.
With
the proliferation of mobile contracts with infinite data connection plans, many
users are taking advantage of mobile connectivity to act as an access point to
the network to connect their laptops.
However,
technology has evolved and more traditional cable-based connections with
Gigabit Ethernet, or even wireless over Wi-Fi, are giving way to constant
connectivity over 4G.
It
is increasingly common to see a wide range of laptops that are marketed with
LTE support. It is technically somewhat similar to 4G, but it can be
generally used to refer to mobile data in all its variants and forms.
This includes Lenovo's
Yoga 5G , the first of many expected 5G laptops to hit the market.
Why would you need a laptop with LTE?
The key benefit is constant
connectivity and adopting the new standard of 'Always-On' which is already a
term that notebooks are adopting from smartphones.
New
technologies and chipset with
Windows 10 allow you to have applications running and updating in the
background, so that when you open the screen of your laptop, you see your
updated email, as well as the rest of social networks and apps.
Thus,
having LTE support on a laptop means that you can stay connected at all times
and wherever you go, without having to manually enable your phone's data
connection to connect, or search for a Wi-Fi network.
The
large operators in our country (Movistar, Vodafone and Yoigo), among others,
claim to have 4G coverage in 99% of the national territory, which means that
offline locations are very few and far between.
Dead
spots are reduced to areas that are difficult to access, such as at high
altitudes, at sea, or in rural locations with little coverage due to the low
deployment of connection towers.
The
other aspect is speed. Even 5G tends to be much faster than the Wi-Fi
you'll find in many public places like airports, coffee shops or libraries,
with the added bonus that 5G will be 10-100 times faster.
Are LTE laptops more expensive than regular
ones?
Generally speaking, yes. Adding
the necessary technology for LTE support inevitably means that the cost
increases. The amount varies wildly, but in general, you can expect to pay
an extra € 150 extra for 4G support.
That's
a difficult comparison to make, as it's rare for manufacturers to offer the
exact same model with and without LTE connectivity. There is also the
question of a separate data contract, which is usually more expensive than the
one for your phone.
The relatively recent emergence of 5G
means that it is much more expensive still. Lenovo's Yoga 5G, the first 5G
laptop that is expected to arrive in Spain, will cost more than € 3,000
associated with a 2-year data plan.
This
limits their choice to professionals or companies that really need to provide
their workers with a complete work tool with constant connectivity, wherever
they go and without depending on the use of other additional devices.
Why not use a mobile phone as an access
point?
This is perhaps one of the main
reasons why you don't need to buy a laptop with LTE connectivity. For the
few times that most people will need data on their laptop without hotspots, you
can turn to the mobile data on your phone.
Almost all current contracts allow you
to use your phone as a personal access point, and it's as simple as activating
the settings on your phone and selecting it from the list of Wi-Fi networks. You
will have to enter the password if this is the first time you are connecting.
The
only thing you will have to keep in mind with this method is to control your
monthly data allowance. While unlimited data contracts are becoming the
new standard, becoming very common, you need to keep a close eye on traffic
consumption.
Even
so, it is worth paying a little more for a higher data rate compared to the
cost of buying a laptop with LTE connectivity.
Laptop with 4G or 5G connectivity?
For most people, the costs of
significantly higher hardware and the current little deployment of 5G network
coverage in our country indicates that betting on 5G models seems very hasty
and unnecessary.
However,
there are exceptions. If you live in area with 5G support (like a big
city) and meet a specific usage profile needed, the 5G laptop can provide you
with additional value.
This
could happen if you rely on a fast connection while traveling every day or if
you want to change your home broadband connection to 5G mode.
For
everyone else, say that it is worth waiting at least a few months. The
strong competition between hardware manufacturers will cause the price of
laptops with 5G to decrease in the short to medium term.
This
is why it won't be long before you can choose a 5G device within the price
range that most people can afford.
Check
our ranking of the best laptops for this year . Another
option may be to purchase a 5G phone that can guarantee a higher connection
speed to your laptop. Check out our list of the best 5G phones
this year .
