We use the term ‘Wi-Fi’ and the internet interchangeably every day. But we all need to understand that Wi-Fi is just a technology that delivers the internet to your devices. Wi-Fi certainly doesn’t represent the internet. We don’t say that Wi-Fi is out, we say the internet is out on my area for weeks now. Wi-Fi and the internet are two completely different things which we take for one thing.
Let’s put it this way, the Internet is the cloud where all your videos and content are located, but this content is brought to your devices (be it a tablet, smartphone or personal computer) through an internet technology named Wi-Fi.
Difference between Wifi and the internet?
If I define it technically, Wi-Fi is basically a family of radio technologies which is used for WLAN (Wireless local area network) of devices. Whereas the internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that utilize TCP/IP protocols to link devices world widely. The simple connection between them is that with Wi-Fi you can connect to the internet wirelessly.
Whereas, the internet is generally known as WAN (Wide area network). It may seem to us that the internet connects all the devices from around the world. But this is not the case. Technically speaking, the internet connects all the Local Area Networks (LAN) together through millions of routers. With the internet, your local home network is not just secluded, but it becomes part of a larger worldwide network.
Other than turning the internet on or off, no user can control the internet. The only thing that a user can do is pay for a certain speed, connection, and hope that one gets what’s promised. Or, you only have the option of contacting the customer support team to get your issues addressed, for example, if you’re a subscriber of spectrum services, you may call spectrum internet customer service anytime to get your problems resolved quickly.
If we see the last three decades, internet speeds have grown quite progressively. Just ten years ago, residential broadband internet has a speed cap of 1.5 Mbps to 20 Mbps. But now it is somewhere between 50 Mbps to 150 Mbps and even faster in some cases.
Most of the time we are delivered with slower speeds than the promised ones because of the wired local internet. In case of a Wi-Fi network, the local network’s speeds are dependent on the different standards of Wi-Fi routers and the number of connected users. It can be even slower than a fast wired connection.
Types of broadband internet connection:
- Wired
Wired Broadband is also known as residential broadband. You connect to the internet through wired broadband by connecting a physical cable, be it a telephone line, cable line or a Fiber-optic line. Cable and fibre optic wired internet are quite common due to their fast speeds and cost-effectiveness. These type of internet services generally doesn’t have any data caps. And even if they have, they are quite high which doesn’t necessarily restrict one’s internet usage. Cable and fibre broadband internets are the most commonly used internet service in the world. If you are wondering that what’s the best internet service provider near me then rest your brain now because platforms like LocalCableDeals are the answer to all your.
- Satellite:
Satellite internet is also similar to that of the broadband internet, but instead of a wired connection with an internet service provider, it connects with the home network connection with the satellite through dishes. The dish than communicate with the satellite to provide the internet. Satellite internet is slightly costly than that of the broadband internet but is quite useful for the people living in rural areas where cable or fiber-optic web hasn’t been installed.
- Cellular:
Cellular internet is the other commonly used type of internet. We mostly use cellular internet on the go (when we are outside of our house or on travel). It usually comes with a monthly data cap and is quite expensive than the other two types of the internet. On the other hand, cellular internet is mostly used over mobile devices and tablets.
I hope the article has clarified all your misunderstandings about the Wi-Fi and internet service. Your Wi-Fi signals can be strong but your internet speeds can still be slow. Because Wi-Fi is a technology that delivers your internet service. It is not the internet itself.
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