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When it comes to gadgets, there's only one hard and fast rule: if it has a wire today, it'll get rid of the wire tomorrow. Even things you wouldn't expect -- yes, someone actually is working on wireless electricity -- will probably one day be wireless.
You may think of your wireless modem as, well, wireless. But of course it's not, it needs the DSL or cable landline to actually connect you to the rest of the world.
Today your internet has a wire. Tomorrow it probably won't.
=== Welcome to 4G ===
DSL and Cable have battled for dominancy in home internet connections pretty much ever since dial up disappeared. But why bother with the wires and cables when there's 3G and 4G networks forming a cloud over your house, your city and pretty soon the entire nation.
So what is 4G? In a nutshell 4G is the high-speed successor to the 3G networks that are currently, for the most part, limited to mobile device. Where the speed of 3G currently averages around 800kbps, 4G networks will offer roughly double that (1.5mbps) in the near term and possibly as fast as 20-30mbps as the technology improves.
4G isn't just about speed either, larger chipsets and better antennas mean 4G is more reliable and cuts through signal noise faster.
In short 4G is already shaping up to good enough to ditch the DSL and go all-mobile, all the time.
=== Tapping into 4G today ===
The best thing about 4G is that it's already here, albiet at a price. Clearwire has offered 4G service is select U.S. cities for some time and now Sprint has introduced the [http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/sprint-overdrive/ Overdrive] a 3G/4G modem that takes advantage of Clearwire's 4G when it's available and falls back on Sprint's 3G when it isn't.
The result is complete mobile access -- no wires to be found -- in a single device with average 4G speeds of between 3-6Mbps. Compare that to the average DSL and cable speeds 4-8Mbps (in the U.S. anyway) and it's easy to see why the future is wireless.
At roughly $80 per month, Sprints 3G/4G network is a bit more than DSL or cable, but the ability to connect from virtually anywhere makes up for the slight cost increase.
=== Other Options ===
Sprint isn't the only wireless broadband option out there, Verizon offers the [http://www.wired.com/reviews/product/verizon_mifi_2000_portable_hotspot Mifi portable hotspot] which turns a 3G cellular signal into wifi. The Mifi does not, however, offer 4G connections.
Thus far, Verizon is only in the testing stages with its LTE 4G network, while there are 4G LTE modems available in overseas, even if you can get them, unfortunately they won't do you much good here in the U.S.
=== Conclusion ===
4G isn't here for everyone, coverage varies by provider to is thus far limited to select U.S. cities. However, as coverage expands and networks speed up the days of landlines delivering the web to your home are numbered.
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