By
July 01, 2024
Internet, broadband, WiFi. Three words that are part of our everyday language and we would struggle to live without them. With their increased usage has come some confusion with the words being used interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. For example:
- The internet’s really bad in my office.
- What’s the broadband like at your place?
- Does the bach have WiFi?
Although they are all related, the three words do mean different things as explained below. Knowing the difference can be super helpful when it comes to purchasing broadband from a service provider.
Internet
The Internet is a global network system or lots of smaller networks used for personal, public, business, academic and government use. In real terms, it’s a massive collection of computer IP addresses and when you get online, you use your computer to contact another computer, which contains information and/or programs doing something you need. The actual brain behind the information superhighway, is an intricate set of communications protocols and rules developed by a couple of computer scientists Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn back in 1974 which allowed computers to speak the same language. The Internet is different to what we refer to as the world wide web.
The word internet is also sometimes used without a capital I, when people refer to their internet connection in a home or office. This means, while technically a noun, the word internet sometimes gets used as a verb when people talking about how they access the internet. “Fibre it’s how we internet now”.
Broadband
When we talk about an internet connection, we’re more likely talking about broadband. A broadband service provides access to everything you need from the internet. This includes the ability to send and receive email, check out websites, use social media, stream media, pay bills, do banking and so much more!
For a broadband service to be delivered it runs over many different types of network technologies or inputs. For many years, ADSL and VDSL broadband services that ran over New Zealand’s legacy copper network, were the main way people connected to the internet. But now most New Zealanders, use the recently build fibre network for their broadband services with some using the mobile network (also known as fixed wireless or wireless broadband) and in more remote, rural areas, satellite broadband.
WiFi
WiFi (or Wi-Fi) is a type of Wireless Connection. It allows devices, such as a phone or tablet, being used at a location (e.g. home, office, café) to connect a router or modem which then connects to the Internet via broadband service.
A radio signal is used to connect the devices to the router or modem and that’s why we talk about the importance of having good WiFi coverage in a home or office to ensure the signal is picked up where devices are being used.
Want to know a bit of under the radar trivia? The term WiFi doesn’t stand for anything in terms of its make-up. Often Wi-Fi, (also written as WiFi, wifi, wi-fi or wi fi) is commonly thought to be short for “Wireless Fidelity”. However, there is no such thing! The term wifi was actually created by a marketing firm as a user-friendly way to refer to the technology known as IEEE 802.11. The name stuck and the rest is history!
So, there you have it, a brief explanation of some terms that can often be misunderstood. Now that you know the basics feel free to correct your family, friends and colleagues so you sound super smart on these terms or to come up as a hero during Quiz Night!
Image credit: Matt Britt, 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons