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

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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.

Comments

  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 21 September 2013 at 5:53PM
    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
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 22 September 2013 at 9:19AM
    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.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
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