# Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is the standard for wireless local networking — the technology that connects devices to a router, and through it to the internet, within a home, office, or venue. It is distinct from cellular ([[5G]]): Wi-Fi covers a building from a local access point you (or a venue) operate, while cellular covers wide areas from carrier towers. Wi-Fi is the default last-hop on-ramp to [[Broadband]] for most laptops, TVs, smart-home gear, and phones on a known network. ## Why it matters here Largely neutral plumbing, with a couple of footnotes. Wi-Fi connection logs and the list of networks a device probes for can be used to infer location and movement history, a minor [[Privacy]] and forensic consideration. More substantively, Wi-Fi is half of the "how do people actually get online" question that sits under [[Broadband]] access politics and the digital divide — a household without home broadband is dependent on cellular data or public Wi-Fi, which shapes who has reliable connectivity. The technology itself is not contested; the access it depends on is. ## See Also - [[Broadband]] — the wired internet service Wi-Fi usually distributes - [[5G]] — the wide-area cellular alternative - [[Internet of Things]] — much of which connects over Wi-Fi