The Wireless Wizard Answers Frequently Asked Questions

Questions submitted by readers, friends, family and others that I hear most often are answered here. If you've got a question about wireless phones, cellular technology, how things work, how to do something on your cell phone, what an acronym stands for or anything else that's mysterious to you about the world of wireless, ask it HERE and I will answer it. If it's asked frequently, I'll post the answer here. Enjoy.
Is there a "cheat sheet" on acronyms for texting?
Submitted by Tvaughn:
There are several good sites that show lists of acronyms, abbreviations, etc., for text messaging - most of them, though, incorporate Instant Messaging (IM) abbreviations, too, making them unnecessarily lengthy. There's one HERE (scroll to the bottom of the page) that you might find to be a good starting point. As you want to get more advanced you can try THIS ONE and THIS ONE.
HTH (Hope this helps!)
Why is coverage so lousy in some places?
Submitted by: K. Wagner
Can't the wireless companies just put up another tower where they need one? If only they could. One of the great ironies of the wireless business is that everyone that uses a phone wants to have perfect coverage in their house, driveway and garage. But nobody wants to have a tower in their back yard.
How come other places have so many more cell phones than I see in the U.S.?
Submitted by Bruce M.:
Yeah, that kinda stinks, doesn't it? I've done my share of traveling (probably a lot of people's shares, now that I think of it) and have seen the same thing. There's a logical reason behind it though, and if you're in business you'll understand why by the time you finish this answer.
What does "3G" mean? I hear that term a lot but am not really sure what it means.
Submitted by Howard G.:
"3G" is shorthand for "third generation" and people in the wireless industry (who are just as guilty of using their own language as computer geeks, cooks, the French or attorneys) use it to refer to the phones and networks that function at faster speeds than the previous two generations. The first generation ("1G", if you will) were the original analog cell phones that you might remember... clunky, lousy battery life, static-filled dinosaurs that were compelling at the time because there wasn't an alternative.

