Broadband connection vs wifi

Try moving closer to the source. If the network isn't showing up, you may be out of range, or the network may be down. Try moving closer or rebooting your router.

You can also try putting your router up on a higher shelf to boost the signal. Method 2. Get an ethernet cable and any needed adapters.

Many recent devices can connect directly to the router via an ethernet cable. However, some aren't built to do that. Laptops, for example, often don't have components for using ethernet.

For that reason, make sure you get any adapters you may need for the ethernet cable to ensure that you can use it. Ethernet cables are all different; for example, a Cat-5 or Cat-5e cable runs at slower speeds than a Cat However, it's also largely dependent on the router's connection and how many people will be connecting to the network at once.

Unless you're doing very, very intensive upload work, you're probably not going to need a Cat-6 cable if you're the only one on the network. You cannot connect a mobile device e. Connect one end of the ethernet cable to the broadband source. The broadband source will most likely be a router, but in some cases, it may be a modem. In either case, you'll need to plug in one end of the ethernet cable to the broadband source to ensure that the computer will connect. Connect the other end of the cable to the computer.

Find the ethernet jack on your computer and plug it in. This jack will typically be located on the back of the computer, where the other components plug in.

If your computer doesn't support ethernet, you'll need to make sure the computer is connected to the adapter, and then connect the cord via the adapter. Access your computer's settings. You'll need to ensure that the computer is set to recognize the ethernet, rather than wireless. Most likely, you'll have to turn off your wireless connection to ensure that the computer recognizes the ethernet connection instead.

Open up a page in a web browser and see if it loads. Some web pages can take longer to load than others, and others crash sometimes, so you may want to try and load a reliable website e. Troubleshoot if you can't connect. Ethernet is more reliable than Wi-Fi, but that doesn't mean that things still can't go wrong. If you're having trouble with the ethernet, it can stem from many problems, but make sure that the basics e. Check if the router is having trouble, and reboot it if so.

Contact your ISP if resetting the router doesn't work, but the cord and computer's ethernet connection work fine. Rarely, your computer's ethernet card may turn out to be defective. If this is the case, contact the seller of your computer or the computer's manufacturer. Method 3. Understand that dial-up internet is no longer widely supported and it will be very difficult to do certain activities on the internet with this type of connection.

Because dial-up internet has fallen out of use in favor of broadband internet, it's not common to see instructions for connecting to dial-up internet anymore. If you want to do some very serious internet browsing, it will be best to find a Wi-Fi hotspot in a public location.

However, dial-up is still commonplace in a few rural areas, which means that you may find yourself needing to connect to it. Ensure that you can connect to dial-up. Dial-up internet requires the use of a phone line, and can only connect one person per phone at a time.

Additionally, most new computers do not have the components to connect to dial-up; you may have to purchase an external USB modem so your computer can connect. Plug in the modem to the phone jack. Oftentimes, places with dial-up internet will have two phone lines - one for the phone, and one for the modem. However, if the modem isn't often used, it may be unplugged, or there may only be one phone line.

Make sure that the phone cable is plugged into both the phone jack on the wall, and the plug on the modem. Connect the modem to the computer. Using another phone line, insert one end of the second phone cable into the modem and the other end into the computer's modem jack or the converter.

Make sure that you don't accidentally plug the phone cable into the ethernet plug by mistake. The phone jack on the computer should be noted by a small phone next to it. Access your computer's network settings. You'll need to manually set up the dial-up connection on the computer.

From there, configure the modem settings. If this is your first time connecting to the dial-up source, you'll most likely need to configure the modem's network settings. While the process is slightly different for every OS, you'll need to enter the same information: the dial-up phone number, a username, and a password.

Connect your computer's connection to the modem. If the dial-up settings are already configured, it may just be as simple as opening up the network settings and connecting to the modem, rather than searching for wireless connections. WiFi, as we discussed, enables you to access the internet. Mobile broadband, however, refers to an internet service that's entirely portable. It's delivered to your devices via a cellular network and can be accessed anywhere that has a signal.

You may be asking yourself, why aren't people just using mobile broadband all the time then? Well, many people are simply relying on mobile broadband thanks to more available plans that offer unlimited data. There are two problems that these people may run into though. First, mobile networks are built to sacrifice speed and latency in locations that have coverage issues.

Depending on where you live, reliable coverage may be hard to come by. Second, mobile broadband networks work best when used by many people who are only engaging in low bandwidth activity. When too many people are executing tasks that require a lot of bandwidth, the network's speed could suffer.

A fairly new type of wireless broadband access, fixed wireless utilizes transmission towers also known as ground stations instead of cellular networks. The benefits of fixed wireless are that it's faster than 4G and doesn't suffer from the same kind of network latency problems that can plague satellite broadband. Unfortunately, subscribers of fixed wireless need to install special transceivers so that their devices can communicate with the ground stations.

And for fixed wireless to work, users need to be within a line of sight of these towers. By knowing the differences in broadband vs WiFi, you can better understand how your internet works and make more informed decisions about it.

Need internet? See if our high speed internet services are nearby: Address See What's Available. Broadband vs WiFi: What's the Difference? What Is Broadband Internet? That's no longer necessary Today, your router - or a combination of a modem and a router - enables your devices to communicate with other devices in the network by utilizing a short-range wireless connection. Don't confuse it with dial-up!

It's just about as fast as cable internet, and like all broadband types, it's always on, though it won't interfere with your ability to use your landline if you have one. Choosing DSL over cable may simply be a matter of what's available in your area or if you live or work somewhere with lots of options, DSL may be priced lower or have better features.

On the other hand, setting up DSL if you don't have a landline may mean paying extra fees to get it up and running. As you research different ISPs, look at an unbiased source like BroadbandSearch to get a feel for what subscription options and extras make the most sense for you and your household.

Cable, satellite, and wireless internet technology work differently, but they are all also forms of broadband internet. Cable internet leverages high-bandwidth cable television infrastructure to provide internet to customers. Satellite and wireless broadband use radio signals to do the same thing. And the much less common fiber optic service known as FiOS uses fiber optic lines. When people talk about Wi-Fi, they're usually referring to one of two things: internet access in a home or business or wireless internet delivery.

In both cases, Wi-Fi is a way of using radio waves to send and receive data. Wi-Fi gives people access to broadband internet without a physical connection to a network. Once upon a time the only way to network devices was to connect them to each other using cables. Now your router or modem-router combo lets your devices talk to other devices in the network using a short range wireless connection.

Or to put it even more simply, Wi-Fi is a way of getting the internet access your ISP provides to your devices without a cable. What many people don't realize is that Wi-Fi is independent from the internet. Devices on a home or business network can communicate with one another even when no internet connection is available.

That's why when you're troubleshooting your internet connection on a device you might see your Wi-Fi is connected but still be unable to get online. Think of it like a TV that's tuned to the right channel but there's no broadcast for it to pick up. A Wi-Fi network is just a local network that happens to be wireless and has the potential to grant you access to the internet, assuming your ISP is doing its job.

Mobile broadband, on the other hand, refers to totally portable internet service that is delivered to your devices via a cellular network and accessible anywhere there's a signal.

So why isn't everyone using mobile broadband all the time?