We are all very well acquainted with the words – internet and Wi-Fi and as a matter of fact, most of the time we use it for the same purpose. We use these words as if they are interchangeable and tend to forget that the internet and Wi-Fi are two separate things. Internet is actually the transmission of data done using the high-speed internet whereas Wi-Fi uses radio frequencies and signals to transfer data without wires. Let’s take a look at what internet and Wi-Fi mean so that we can use the words correctly and get our basics right.
Internet and Wi-Fi - What Do They Mean?
Internet is a term that refers to wide bandwidth data transmission. To put it in simpler words if the internet is data being transmitted between two devices, then in this case it is the pass way on which that data is moving. The Internet makes use of multiple lines to transmit a lot of data rather than a single line used by old dial-up connections.
Internet connections can be of various types such as ASL, DSL, Cable, Fiber and more, however, what’s common is that all the technologies have the same purpose of providing high-speed internet to their users. So far, the fibre technology is the best we have come with which offers seamless connectivity to the users using high bandwidths.
Talking about Wi-Fi, it is a technology that makes use of radio frequencies and signals to receive and send information wirelessly between two devices. Hence, Wi-Fi is only one of the means through which the internet can be accessed wirelessly. All Wi-Fi connections work on two frequency bands - 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. For longer distances and lower bandwidth, 2.4 GHz frequency is utilised whereas for the shorter distance and larger bandwidth 5 GHz is used.
So to put the difference between the internet and Wi-Fi in terms that we can easily understand, the internet is a type of internet connection given by your internet service provider whereas Wi-Fi is one of the technologies that allow us to connect to the Internet to access the internet. For instance, a LAN cable can be used to access the internet by connecting the router to the device, however, Wi-Fi gives us an option to wirelessly get access to the internet.
