novice question but... wi-fi versus broadband?

niacin

Hi,

I am looking to buy a laptop and I have never owned a laptop with internet access before. My local library offers free wi-fi but i've noticed that some laptops have wi-fi and some have broadband. Would I still be able to access free wi-fi (cafes libraries etc.) with broadband and not wi-fi? Sorry if it's a stupid question but I have no idea.

I did read the article on broadband and wi-fi but I am still none the wiser with regards to this particular matter.

Thanks.

JJ_Egan

Laptop most are WiFi Enabled .

Broadband on a Laptop thats either confusion with WiFi or it simply means it has a cable Ethernet connection that allows you to connect by wire to your home router as well as WiFi .

Or buy a laptop and get discounted home broadband is the other comes with broadband .

Broadband roughly speaking is the service the Internet is transmitted over .That will be down the phone cable to a router that connects to a PC Laptop either by Ethernet cable or by WiFi .
So the library has a broadband service from the phone cables that goes to a WiFi transmitter picked up by a WiFi receiver in the laptop . Thats a very very simple version

macman

All laptops have wi-fi. Some have a SIM card slot so you can insert a 3G SIM (or you just use a USB 3G dongle). However this means paying 3G data charges.
If you had a laptop with 3G but no wi-fi (which would only be the case if the wi-fi card was broken), then no, you could not access free wi-fi hotspots, and you would have to pay for 3G access, if available.
All laptops offer internet connectivity and have done for years. Only very old ones would lack wi-fi and be ethernet-dependent.