Mobile users prefer Wi-Fi over cellular for lower cost, speed, reliability

20.08.2012
Smartphone and tablet users prefer using Wi-Fi over cellular connections, and consider Wi-Fi cheaper, faster, easier to use, more reliable and, even, slightly more secure than cellular.

These attitudes, reflected in an online survey in March of 1,079 U.S. mobile users, surprised a research team at , which makes networking equipment, including wireless routers. Most experts consider cellular networks such as 4G LTE to be inherently more secure than Wi-Fi.

"The surprising thing is that while cellular networks are more secure, people perceive Wi-Fi as being as good as or better than cellular," said Stuart Taylor, director of the Internet Business Solutions Group at Cisco, which conducted the research.

He said that Wi-Fi can be made more secure with passwords, but it is generally considered susceptible to sniffing and other attacks that aren't as easy with a cellular connection.

Still, the survey found that 35% of smartphone and tablet users found Wi-Fi to be the most secure, compared with 34% for cellular networks. Except for cellular offering the "best coverage," more respondents, by a wider margin, also found Wi-Fi desirable over cellular for its lower cost, speed, reliability, best performance for applications and ease of use. Coverage is also improving for Wi-Fi as more and more free hotspots emerge, Cisco noted.

The findings reflect the growth of Wi-Fi in recent years, as it has become more widely used in homes and public gathering spots, as well as offices and businesses. It wasn't too long ago that some cellular companies opposed having smartphones work over Wi-Fi, Taylor noted.