Wi-Fi, Broadband, Internet, Mobile Data - Whats the difference?
You have most likely heard the terms; Internet, Broadband, Fibre, Wi-Fi and Mobile Data alot in rececnt years, but still there is alot of confusion over what each of these things are and how they work together to give you access to your email, social media and favourate streaming services.
Internet
Lets start with the most imporant one, the internet. What is the internet? Well to put it simply, the internet is the huge network of computers, servers and cables that connect all major systems in the world. When you do anything online, you are doing it on the Internet or International Network (Inter-Net)
Broadband
This is one of the ways your household connects to the Internet. Broadband is the type of connection that most households in the UK and Ireland use to establish a connection to the wider internet via their ISP (Internet Service Provider). There are different types of Broadband connection such as ADSL2 / FTTC / FTTP.
ADSL connections are some of the oldest still around today. This type of connection uses copper telephone cables throughout the UK and Ireland to connect you to your ISP and then onwards to the internet. ADSL Connections are typically slower than others available as they rely on signals sent through copper wiring that was traditionally deisgned to handle phonecalls.
FTTC stands for Fibre to the Cabinet, with this type of connection, sometimes called a Hybrid connection, Your home is connected to the local telecoms cabinet (usually on your street or nearby) using copper telephone wires and then the signal is converted at the cabinet to a Fibre connection on to the local telephone exhange and on to your ISP and the wider internet.
FTTP stands for Fibre to the Premesis, this is the latest type of broadband connection that uses Fibre cables direct from your property to the telephone exchange and then on to your ISP and the wider internet.
Fibre
Fibre is the latest type of Broadband connection. With fibre, instead of slow electical signals travelling through the network of copper telephone wires that traverse the UK and Ireland, Fibre uses small Fibreoptic strands woven into bigger cables to transmit a digital light signal at extremely fast speeds throughout the physical network to your ISP and on to the wider Internet. There are two main types of fibre connection, FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) and FTTP (Fibre to the Premesis). With Fibre connections you are sure to be accessing the internet at the best speed possible for your area.
Wi-Fi
Wifi is a type of invisible radio signal that is transmitted by your router throughout your household to provide internet access. Most devices that you will use to connect to the internet will use Wi-Fi to establish a connection to your router which manages your Broadband Connection. The term Wi-Fi is short for Wireless Fidelity which is actually a trademarked phrase that refers to IEEE802.11x which is the technical name for Wi-Fi. Many home internet issues are primarily a result of interference with the Wi-Fi signal being received by your device(s). It is important to note that you can only connect to Wi-Fi when you are within range of a router that you have access to. If you have Wi-Fi at home and you go out for a walk, you will most likely be disconnected from your Wi-Fi once you get to around 10m from your property.
Mobile Data
In a similar way to how Wi-Fi works, Mobile Data is a radio signal that is broadcast by your mobile network operator and picked up by your mobile device. your device then uses this connection to transmit and receive an internet connection. Just like broadband, there are different strenghts of Mobile Data, 3G is like older ADSL connections, 4G is comparable to ADSL2 / FTTC connectoins and 5G is more like modern Fibre and the fastest type of mobile data connection. With mobile data, your connection only depends on the signal avaiable in your area and what plan you have with your mobile provider. Most mobile providers in the UK and Ireland now offer a monthly data allowance with mobile phone plans ranging from a 1GB to to 100GB. If you are unsure how much data your mobile phone plan includes, you should contact your mobile provider (O2 / Vodafone / EE / GiffGaff / etc...). Unlike Wi-Fi you do not need any additional equipment to receive mobile data. You only need a data capable smartphone and a sim card with a data plan. (Most UK and Irish sim cards now come with a data allowance as standard.) Mobile Data will continue to work even when you are not at home (providing you have mobile signal), unlike Wi-Fi which requires you to be within a certain distance of your Router.
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