Your internet service provider (ISP) brings the internet into your home through a modem. A router then converts that signal into Wi-Fi, allowing phones, laptops, TVs and other devices to connect without cables. In short, the internet provides the connection, and Wi-Fi makes it accessible to your devices wirelessly.

“A cellular hotspot is an easy way to get through a day or two of internet outages, but if the outage is widespread, then that plan is much less effective with the overloaded cell towers. Many preppers are starting to embrace Starlink and satellite ISPs even if they are in less rural areas,” he said.

Discover how many people use the internet globally in 2025, with key differences by age, region, and daily vs. constant online habits.

Nepal’s crackdown on social media companies, which led to protests and police killing at least 19 people Monday, is part of a yearslong decline of internet freedoms around the world as even democracies seek to curtail online speech.

Taliban cut internet for whole country as Afghanistan ‘dragged into abyss’ - Ban blocks mobile and broadband internet services, disrupts satellite television, and affects flight operations