The continuously growing demand for the internet has led to improved quality and coverage in homes, working environments and practically everywhere else with electricity. Everybody wants to use the internet, and they choose to utilise it for as many tasks as possible, but not everyone understands exactly what it is and what the terminology surrounding it means.
It’s become the norm to act like broadband and WiFi have the same meaning. In fact, this is a common misconception, and although both WiFi and broadband are closely related, they are not technically the same.
What is the difference between broadband and WiFi?
Broadband and WiFi exist within the same field but each term refers to a different step in the process of accessing the internet. Although often regarded as being the provider of internet coverage, WiFi is actually only a method of connecting to the internet. Using the internet through WiFi means that you’re connected wirelessly.
By talking about WiFi as being the internet as a whole, you’re ruling out alternative options such as gaining the internet on your mobile phone, laptop, desktop computer, tablet or smart television via the traditional method of physically connecting an ethernet cable between the internet router and your chosen device.
While WiFi is sometimes wrongly referred to as the internet as a whole, broadband is merely perceived as being an elaborate nickname for your router. Both of these interpretations are wrong, with broadband actually being the preferred term for the internet used by service providers.
At one stage, it was the case that broadband was only an option for securing your internet connection. When the internet was first released to the world in 1991, dial-up was the only way to receive a connection within your household, with the required transmission being made through your telephone line.This meant not being able to use your landline phone or the internet at the same time and internet speed being painfully slow. However, the arrival of broadband in the early 21st century saw it surpassing dial-up internet by a distance.
There was no competition between dial-up and broadband, as you wouldn’t be able to stream music or videos using a dial-up internet connection, and downloading any-sized file would take a prolonged length of time. Connecting to the internet and making phone calls are now separate - with a lot of landline contracts also catering to this too - and it’s easy to see why.
Can you get WiFi without broadband?
Due to the fact that broadband is the internet, it wouldn’t be possible to receive a WiFi internet connection without broadband coverage in your home. You need to make sure that you’ve signed up to a broadband deal with a service provider or accessing home internet coverage through your WiFi simply isn’t possible.
It could be the case that you’re uninterested in the thought of accessing the internet in your home but you might want to use your WiFi to communicate between devices, making a messenger service for everyone within your household. It is possible to do this, but as a WiFi router needs to be attached to an existing internet connection for this to work, you will still need a broadband connection.