April 2025
The Internet is an infra-structure made up of cables and electronic boxes such as routers and switches, see Internet Origins.
In the UK, BT (British Telecom) own most of the Infra-structure, basically most of the cables laid underground to all major cities. These cables are known as Trunk Cables and ultimately they carry all of the Elelectronic data. This infra-structure has become known as the Electronic Super Highway and it now mostly uses optical fibre cables.
To access this Super Highway, you need a subscription to an ISP (Internet Service Provider). You can think of that being like a Toll booth. The ISP will usually provide a “Router”, which will enable you to send and recieve Electronic data via your Desktop / Laptop PC or any other network device e.g. Tablet PC.
Note. Modern day Internet Connections use “Broadband” (instead of MODEMS). Ideally you should keep the router powered up 24/7.
Modern day routers are also known as an “Internet Gateway” and usually include a WAP (Wireless Access Point) and a “port”/ socket to plug your landline into.
The most reliable method of connecting your PC to the Router is to use an “Ethernet Cable“, plug one end into the network port of your PC and the other end into one of the LAN ports of the router – these are usually coloured yellow. Nice and easy robust connection to the Router and in turn the Internet where you can use the many services e.g. WWW (World Wide Web), Email and Social Media along with all the other “Cloud services”.
If you have a Laptop, Tablet or even Smartphone: you can use WiFi to connect to the WAP built-in to the Router. This in turn provides a “data path” to the Internet through the router.
WHAT IS DATA.
With regards to computers, we are talking about electronic data. When we connect our device / devices to a network e.g. a LAN (Local Area Network) or a Global Network (the Internet) we can send and receive electronic data to other computers. This allows us to share Information with others, electronically. It does this by converting the data into electronic signals, which are then send through the cables to the point of delivery – which might be the other side of the world!
WHAT IS WiFi.
WiFi. allows your device to send / recieve Electronic data without the use of a cable (wireless). Instead of using a cable, data is converted into a “radio signal”, which is transmitted “over / through the air”. Your router usually has a WAP (Wireless Access Point) which enables the radio (wireless) signals to be passed between your Wireless device and the WAP. The router and WAP sort out the radio signals and convert them back to electronic data that is then sent / received using the cables of the Infra-structure.
When WiFi works, it usually works very well but radio signals are subject to interference and generally the data “traffic” is a lot slower than an Ethenet cable. WiFi does provide a usefull “service” for portable devices but you can also use WiFi to connect your PC to the WAP / WiFi router, instead of using an Ethernet cable. WiFi is very convenient for portable devices such as Laptops, Tablets and even mobile phones.
To use WiFi, you need to connect your device to the WAP or WiFi router, which usually has an indentifying name (SSID) e.g virgin234567 or maybe a name chosen for fun e.g. Homer. Your ISP will tell you the name / SSID of your router. You can change the SSID it along with password.
WiFi is also available in public places like pubs and restaurants. In this case thay are usually called WiFi “Hotspots”. You usually ask at the bar for the “WiFi password”, some don’t need a password. Instead, you are taken to a “Landing Page” where it asks for your email address etc and can sometimes give you the option of buying air time.
NOTE. Public hotspots often have a few people / devices conected and this can make the connection slugish!
Lets look at mobile phones / smartphones etc.
Mobile phones were originally only capable of being use for voice and later text (SMS). Unlike your landline phone, mobile (cell) phones use radio signals, which connect to “Mobile Masts” or Towers. So when you make a voice call or send a txt (sms), the mast receives the radio signal and then passes it to the mobile network operators infra-structure and in turn passes it to the intended recipient. Voice and SMS were never treated as “electronic data”, it was just a radio signal!
Along came “Smartphones” which in many cases are more like small portable computers with built-in cameras and the capability of connecting to the Internet to use Web Browsers, Email and social media messaging etc. In principal “Broadband” was now available on your Smartphone. This was a game changer and many people just use a smartphone for their computing needs.
This meant that Mobile Network Operators now had to provide Internet access by acting as ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and this led to a change in the way they offered “Mobile Connections” and pricing plans. Now Mobile Network operators offer a “two tier” system in that they allow so many minutes of voice calls and so many txt messages and an allowance for “data”. The data allowance is to do with Internet access and is generally given in Gigabytes (GBs) (of data) per month.
Ultimately your phone only works well if the signal is good enough. Fortunately most mobile networks have enough masts (cells) to give a good coverage for voice and data. Unfortunately, some areas are not served well with mobile phone signals – mainly due to topographical features. You might be “in the dip”.
Most modern smartphones are also capable of using WiFi and this is often causes confusion.
If your phone signal at home is not very good, you can use WiFi to connect your (smart) phone to your WAP and this will allow you to use WiFi to access the Internet using your phone and it won’t affect your “data allowance“. Some (smart) phones allow you to send and recieve voice calls using WiFi. This is awesome.
When you are out and about and maybe visiting a pub or restaurant that have a WAP / Hotspot and your phone signal is rubbish, you just connect to the pubs WAP to get Internet access and be able to send / recieve email etc. The WiFi provided by the pub might not be adequate to give a decent connection to get voice calls.
To summarise.
To get an Internet connection at home you need a router, usually provided by an ISP. The most reliable connection method is to use an Ethernet cable between your PC and the router. If your router has a built-in WAP, using WiFi is also an option but it will usually be slower and not always reliable.
To get an Internet connection when out & about you would use your (smart) phone. The connection uses the mobile network that issues you with a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) and this depleats your “Mobile Data” allowance. If you find that your data allowance isn’t enough you just pay for more data allowance.
Most mobiles (in the UK) currently use 4G (Forth Generation) as the standard for Data connections but 5G is now being rolled out to more locations. 5G is much better than 4G and where it is available, it is usually much better than using WiFi. To use 5G, your phone needs to be 5G enabled.
An alternative to using your phone when out and about is to use a “WiFi Hotspot”. This could be in a pub or other public place or even a friend that allows you to connect to their WAP / WiFi router. Using WiFi does not depleat / use your mobile data allowance.
NOTE. General problem with WiFi.
It is so popular that it is a victim of its own success – it is so convenient. If you have a WiFi router (WAP) at home and you move out of range the connection will drop. This can happen if you have “WiFi black spots” in your home where the WiFi signal doesn’t reach (mainly due to thick walls etc).
If your neighbours also have WiFi routers, they can often cause interference. Your device will keep trying to maintain a connection to the strongest signal and if your neighbour has the more powerful WiFi router signals, your device will keep trying to connect to it but unless you know the password the connection will fail!